Alternate Heroes: Arrowverse Vs Avengers
by silverwolvesarecool
Summary: The archer, the speedster, the Kryptonian. All heroes in their own right. A mysterious incident brings them all to another earth with different heroes, they must put aside any differences to get to their own world again. But a threat threatens both earths and both teams must unite to fight the common enemy. The light? Only the tip of the iceberg of what is to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Read this first please. At first I named this** ** _Alternate Earths_ but then I changed the title _Alternate Heroes: Avengers Vs Arrowverse._ I hope that title is satisfatctory because I will not be changing it. I am happy with it. **

**I've been dying to complete this type of story for ages. At first I wrote it to revolve around Legends of Tomorrow/Flash/Arrow but that became too** **complicated after this years' seasons. Since Flash season 3 makes this perfect to start and Supergirl being "part" of the Arrowverse...I decided to give it another shot :)**

 **Unfortunately Fanfiction does not allow me to mark it under several crossovers between franchises. I did it under Flash as it makes it a bit easier. But this is a major crossover between Arrow/Flash/Supergirl and The Avengers.**

 **This obviously is not my first story...but this may be the first time I am mentioning this. I WELCOME constructive criticism (so long as it is written _not_ to be insulting)...so please read and review. I will read every review people give me, but if you have any questions of criticism either put them in your reviews or PM me. I will answer any questions you guys have.**

 **Time line for this? It is after Flash and Arrow's midseason finales as well as Supergirl's.**

 **Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners as well as parts of the plot.**

* * *

There was smoke and dust in the air. Debris floated everywhere and coated everything in a pale grey dusting of what appeared to be snow, but was in fact pulverized concrete. Sound of explosions echoed in the background, and several people ran screaming from the Manhattan area to escape the war zone taking place in the center of it.

A young woman was slammed into the concrete suddenly, by a well aimed shot from a man encased in a gleaming red and gold armor. Her dark red cape came up over her head; turning it only manage to dislodge it slightly. Muttering something in an other language under her breath, she dug her fingernails deep into the concrete below her. The cement cracked and her fingers disappeared into the road. With a loud yell, she upheaved a chunk of pavement the size of a city bus, turned and flung it straight at the man in armor.

He deflected with no problem and her missile exploded into thousand tiny pieces. Debris rained down and his companion, a man with a large shield covered his head with it. The man had learned the hard way of what happened when he got to close to her and now would circle around before lunging in and darting back out. His shield was slightly dent, but amazingly it was not that severe suggesting that whatever metal is was made from was quite strong.

However, the woman could tell it was pinned against its owner's forearm, as the man winced as the fragments struck it. She sent a silent apology to the man under her breath as she floated up in the air to glare at Tony Stark. A gleaming dark red S was branded in the center of her chest, outlined in a border of gold.

" _You don't know when to give up do you?_ " he asked crossing his arms.

She glowered at him, "I'm still not going to fight you. Don't you ever listen?"

" _No,"_ the man responded nonchalantly before firing off another blast from his repulsers.

It smacked her right in the chest, but at this point the Girl of Steel was used to his weaponry. She brushed it off as if it were no more than a laser pointer beam and cracked her neck. She crossed her arms and taunted, "Come on. I'll let you hit me just this once."

Iron Man hesitated no doubt remembering what happened the first time he had met her. While he was distracted, the woman's eyes glowed a reddish white color. Heat shot out and blasted the ground at his feet, causing the man to sink into melted asphalt. He cursed loudly as he tried to pry himself free but to no avail; it was like trying to un-pry himself from something the consistency of superglue. Seeing for the moment one of her attackers were taken care off, the woman landed lightly on the ground and turned towards the other man holding the shield.

He raised his shield in her direction and glanced at her warily. The man had more courage than she gave credit for initially. She cocked her head to the side and allowed her body to visibly relax. He watched her suspiciously and lowered his shield about a quarter of an inch. For a split second his eyes trained off her and instead were focused behind her. It was a barely noticeable move, but it was suspicious none the less.

Supergirl turned around in time to get knocked to the ground by a lithe woman. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit that completely incased her arms and legs. Around her waist was a belt with a red buckle in the shape of a hourglass, and she was armed with two nightsticks strapped on her legs and two pistols on her hips. Her entire jumpsuit had traces of electrical blue streaks that crackled and hummed with electricity as she pinned Supergirl to the ground.

The latter meanly grunted as her attacker twisted her arm behind her. It didn't exactly hurt, but it did feel uncomfortable. The woman pressed harder into her restraining move, and it took a lot for Supergirl not to throw her off. She wanted to let them know that she meant them no harm.

With a loud cracking sound, Tony managed to blast his way free from his restraints forming a deep pothole in the street. He stamped the extra asphalt out of his gears, his armor creaking, " _I've been trying to knock her to the ground all this time and you managed to do it in three seconds Natasha?"_

"You thought throwing half of the city block at her was the way to do it?" the woman 'Natasha' asked in exasperation.

In response, a light post fell over and smashed a nearby car.

"And a supporter beam," Supergirl added using her free hand to hold her index finger up for emphasis, "As well as five cars, a tour bus, and a fire hydrant."

She winced slightly as the grip on her arm tightened. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the woman gave her a surprised look and there was faint but grim smile on the other man's face. Tony mean while was annoyed, " _Whatever. At least I didn't get an exploding arrow up my nose like Clint. Where the hell is he anyways?"_

"He's around," Natasha nodded, "Better not say anything thought."

Supergirl wiggled slightly, trying to get free so she would be in a better position to talk. Her captor however grabbed her free arm and twisted it around to join her other one, "I'd stop moving if I were you."

The Girl of Steel scowled slightly, knowing that things were going to get ugly if they didn't get these people to listen to them.

" _Hey_ _Supergirl_ ," a voice leaked through the comn link, " _Ya might want to get ready_."

"You got to me kidding me," she said, shifting her weight slightly, "I had this handled."

" _No offense girl but um...it doesn't look like that to me."_

"Who are you talking to?" Natasha leaned closer to her in order make out what was being said.

Before she could alert her teammates, there was a faint whistling sound. Tony barely had time to intercept an arrow that came straight at his face. He caught it and examined it with disbelief, " _Uh oh. Clint whe_ —"

The arrow exploded and completely incased him in a crackling block of ice before he could finish his statement. Immediately, both Natasha and the other man turned their attention in the direction of which the arrow originated. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Supergirl arched her back and grabbed a hold of the woman, flipping her onto her back. Carefully she twisted her to the ground, taking care not to hurt in her the process. Natasha fought vigorously to free herself, but the other woman pined her down easily with one arm and glanced up at a truck next to her. An archer clothed completely in green stood on the top of the vehicle with another arrow at the ready. A hood obscured his features and it was hard to tell what expression was on his face.

" _Hope I'm not too late_ ," he commented in a low and threatening voice with a hint of humor hidden within its tones.

Supergirl grinned widely, "You're just on time."

The other man blinked in surprise and threw his arm back as if to throw his shield. A red blur materialized out of no where and managed to lay a solid punch on his chin and part of the shield. The man to staggered back in pain with his shield ringing like a metallic gong; similar to the tones of church bell.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. That hurt. Crap!" The speedster winced and waved his injured hand back and forth rapidly to gain the feeling back.

" _Stand down_ ," the archer snarled, " _If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead already_."

"Doubt it," the man with the shield said shaking his head as he looked at the speedster. He took a step forward, only to have the fast man to appear next to the truck in which the archer was perched.

"Do we have rights to say something?" the speedster asked, "Or uh...should we just remain silent?"

His voice belayed just how troubled he was by something. Unfortunatly before anyone could answer, the ice encasing Tony melted and he blasted two shots in rapid succession no doubt instinctively; one in Supergirl's direction and the other in the speedster's. She deflected it in time, but the other was not as fortunate. The blast hit the ground at his feet and sent him sprawling over the top of a car. With a groan he slammed into a wall and fell to the ground, nearly on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Flash!"

Taking advantage to Supergirl' s temporary diversion, Natasha wiggled her way free and managed to sting her with a pair of electric bracelets incased around her wrists. The former staggered back in surprise, before lunging at the other who danced out of the way in time. Eventually they engaged in blow, Supergirl mostly blocking them and avoiding laying a hand on the other. While they were busy, Tony fired a shot at the archer. In his eyes, the energy blast reflected itself as it drew closer and closer to him, before striking the truck.

The entire sky lit up with the explosion which echoed eerily down the vacant streets of the city.

* * *

 _96 hours earlier_

It was long past retirement for Sergeant Bronks of SCPD. He needed a vacation, and quick. At this point, Star City had become so crazy that it made Central City seem sane. First War of the World with aliens invading and now...a Spielberg movie come to life. What was next? A remake of Zoo*?

"Holysonofaflaminghot—" the cop shouted as he dove over the side of the squad car as bullets raked its side. Besides him his partner Detective Gordon shoved another magazine clipping into the bottom of the hand gun. Quickly he fired off several shots before ducking back down for cover. A stray bullet shot his cap off his head with a loud PFFF! The hat rolled out of reach and into the streets. Rather than risk having a bullet aimed lower, he let it be.

"Son of a what?" he asked arching an eyebrow.

Bronks winced as he felt the pellets rattle the doors, death knocking at them literally, "You're the genius who started the swear jar idea to curb the swearing in the office. What's the next price range going to be? Fifteen bucks?"

"You are complaining about the stupid swear jar," the detective asked in disbelief, "When we are about to get mowed down by an extra from Star Wars?"

Both men jumped as the firing continued to increase with a crescendo. Bronks covered his head and shifted to the side as the bullets finally pierced their way through the metal frame of the car and hit the wall of the building behind them. Solid concrete started to chip away as the high capacity rounds similar to those coming from an AR-15 struck it. The sound was absolutely deafening.

"Where the hell did these things come from?" he shouted over the noise.

"All I know is some civilains called it in," Gordon screamed back as he threw down the empty gun in frustration, "And we were the two who had to respond to it! Lucky us huh?"

There was a muffled thump and an arrow become lodged in the neck of the machine. The gun fire stopped suddenly as the machine suddenly turned attention off the two police officers to two figures that were standing in the middle of the street. One was completely dressed in a red jacket, with the hood hiding her features. A sword stuck out of the quiver on her back, and in her hands she held a long compound bow. Besides her was man dressed in a black leather jacket. His face was smeared with paint in the shape of T and despite having his arms crossed, it was easy to see the terror in his face.

" _Go_ ," The woman shouted as she reached for another arrow.

The two officers did not need further suggestion. They ran from the scene as fast as they could; with a shadowy figure on the roof tops covering them without their knowledge.

"Did I mention to you how much I hate robots?" Curtis asked Thea as the robot clanked towards them.

They were staring down one of the many machines that were attacking the city. There had been such a multitude, that it was very unlikely that Prometheus had bought them all. There is no way a power hungry, psychopath could have _that_ much money to buy all of them. Come to think of it...he normally worked alone or at least with one partner as was made apparent with Evelyn betraying them.

"No," she responded launching an arrow from her quiver straight into the nozzle of the machines who had leveled its weapons at them, "But now I know why you don't want to watch the Terminator Series and run screaming from the room when we _do_ watch it."

"Those things give me nightmares!" he complained.

The machine exploded, the gun muzzle had been blown apart to resemble the appearance of a daisy. Random parts of robot showered down everywhere like a miniature meteor shower. With a slight smirk, Thea twisted her bow in the air and caught it; copying a very similar move that Oliver did once in a while. Curtis stared at her in shock.

"You got the exploding arrow?" he asked, "Aren't you a little young for that?"

"Ollie trusts me," she replied with a smug grin, "Its not like I would send one of them up Rene's behind when he gets _too_ annoying."

"I heard that Queen," Wild Dog grumbled who had come up behind them holstering the handguns he always carried with him.

Rory dropped off the roof top and stood a little ways off the right having returned from getting the police officers to safety. He didn't exactly laugh but muffled snorts came from behind the rags wrapped around his face. Before he could comment, there was a sudden and loud explosion that shattered all the windows. All four vigilantes were knocked to the ground as the wave rushed over them, followed by a bright flash of light.

* * *

"On your right!"

Oliver Queen—otherwise known as Green Arrow to a trusted few—swore and barely had time to duck in order dodge the flaming car tire that flew over his head. The sound similar to that of someone hitting bubble wrap multiple times with a baseball bat started up; waves of sound blasted it further away and left behind a slight ringing noise in his ears. He shot a glare at Cisco who gave him a nervous grin in return. The pulsating waves coming from his hands, were momentarily visible before dissipating. The man lowered his hands stuffed them into his jacket pockets.

"Could have warned me sooner Ramon," the archer grumbled.

"Ah...sorry," Cisco removed his 'glasses' winced as the sound of an explosion screeched elsewhere, "First time being on a _major_ battle front instead of the lab and I screwed it up. Sorry GA."

Oliver rolled his name at the stupid nickname the computer genius had come up with to shorten his alter ego identity. It was more annoying than being called Robin Hood. Though he supposed he _was_ a Robin Hood figure to people he had helped—he was rich at one point and he took money from other rich (and corrupt) people and gave it to people who were cheated by them as well as many other heroic actions. One thing was for sure...he was glad he had refused allowing Cisco to add a feather to his costume along with a silly looking hat instead of his traditional hood. Instead of making his enemies get scared of him they would be laughing _at_ him.

"Where the hell's Barry?" he shouted over the loud noise of bullets riddling the side of the vehicle they had taken cover behind, "He said"—Oliver let out grunt as a bullet whistled by his ear—"he was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!" And secretly he wondered why his friend allowed one of his tech teammates onto the field.

Cisco shrugged in response and started to say something that was lost in the barrage of sound that was hard to associate with anything. He peered cautiously over the top of the vehicle only allowing his head to poke up for a few seconds, before jerking it back down and then back up. The blaze of bullets had been silenced abruptly but both men knew from past experience(s) they could come back any second.

" _Where do you think I am_?" Barry's wounded tone came over the comn link, " _You know there are several civilians standing around. And at any rate Kara is providing enough backup as you need until I'm done_."

Oliver gritted his teeth to bite back a comment, but couldn't help but agree with his friend. He peered over the top joining Cisco, and found out the machine which had been shooting at them had been thrown into the side of a building. It had been thrown so hard that only the back end of the robot was visible; amazingly the building did not collapse even with the extent of damage it had been inflicted with. Various parts of the machine littered the street; a flaming part of a motor here, a bolt there, and an entire engine had been lodged in a nearby tree. It almost made the battlefront seem serene for the time being.

Inwardly he groaned since he was going to have to be the one who had to explain everything to the press when this was over. One of the disadvantages of being mayor. With a grimace he eyed his surroundings, bitterly wishing he hadn't asked Team Flash for his current issue since Barry had decided to bring over someone help with the invasion of mechanical monsters.

Kara Danvers—who the media on her earth had dubbed Supergirl—was back in town and had destroyed at least twenty of the ugly machines. At that given moment, she was currently trying to take down another one that looked suspiciously like a miniature version of one of the walkers in a _Star Wars_ movie; except it was roughly eight feet tall instead of eighty. Instead of blaster guns, it had mounted machine guns which were doing little to hurt her. Sparks flew from her chest as the bullets ricochet off her impenetrable skin. It was one of the garden variety that they were fighting. Oliver knew exactly how many robots there were; most of them had arrows sticking out of them. And others...well...had arrows _bouncing_ off them.

Several of the other machines—with different designs—had mounted flame throwers, grenade launchers, and at one point Oliver could have sworn he saw one with rocket launchers...that was until Kara destroyed it. He still did not know what to make of the woman—who according to Barry— was an alien and was from a—now obliterated—planet called Krypton. How and where Barry had met her, he did not know and upon asking his friend, he found out why he hated science so much.

But he did have to admit, where her awkward and peppy attitude (she was a bit like Felicity in her alter civilian ego) made it hard to take her seriously, her fighting skill also made it not worth picking a fight with. Her bullet proof skin and super-strength were enough to put an end to any argument. No seriously...no one should want to pick a fight with Kara; even if they were using steroids for years or even Mirakuru, they would lose. Not to mention her other powers...

As he watched, Kara blasted the machine with her heat vision. It turned a bright red then a bright white-red color before melting into a puddle of bubbling goo. Only then did Oliver stand up with his bow ready. He walked out into the open but kept an eye open for any of the remaining machines as well as avoiding the piping hot molten metal. He didn't even want to think about what would happen to his skin if he came into contact with it.

"Did I ever tell you how hot she is?" Cisco slipped his Vibe goggles back on; asking dreamily as he followed the archer without any hint of fear.

Though—Oliver made note—that the man who was a little too fond of wearing geeky shirts was using him as human barrier. Lucky him...just what he needed; to be used a bodyguard for someone who could take care of himself if he had to—considering he had blasted the tire away with his powers. He tried not to look too annoyed though, Cisco was a great friend despite his moments.

"You know I can hear you right?" Kara landed in front of them and let out a laugh, "Super-hearing."

Oliver knelt down and poked the end of an arrow in the molten goop which now had the consistency of honey as it started to harden. The metal solidified on the tip and he carefully snapped the end off; placing the arrowhead in one of his pockets. Felicity was going to have to run a test on the unknown material since it made bullets and titanium alloy arrows bounce off the machines like they were wrapped in an impenetrable bubble.

" _And the comn link_ ," Barry's voice came in teasingly.

The archer glared down the street and heard the familiar crackling sound of electricity approaching.

"Not cool man," Cisco grumbled crossing his arms.

His lenses glowed slightly brighter in response to his annoyance. He still hadn't completely gotten over the speedster's tampering with the timeline which killed his brother but had forgiven him for his empathetic decision.

" _Its about time you got_ —,"Barry skidded to a stop out of nowhere with a grin on his face,"—the shorter end of the stick. You're the one who is always teasing me."

Considering he was late, Oliver restrained himself from choking his friend. It wouldn't do any of them any good and at any rate Barry would easily dodge the move if he interpreted it in time. The speedster must have picked a fight with one of the robots on the way though...he was covered from head to toe in dust and he had a cut on his face that was slowly bleeding. The red blood was a stark contrast to his dust covered face and Oliver restrained himself from wiping it off.

"Remind me again where these _things_ came from?" the archer grumbled straightening up.

Barry shrugged and started dusting himself off as he talked, "Far as I know...they just...appeared out of nowhere at least according to you. Cue mass hysteria, then Argus comes in...then they turned tail and ran. Then Lindacalledusandthen—"

"I get it," Oliver stifled a groan by pinching the bridge of his nose.

Once Barry got talking it was rather hard to stop him sometimes. Especially when he started talking really, _really_ fast. The only way to understand _that_ was to ask him to slow down and repeat what he had said, though slower. Or—as Cisco suggested several times and got swatted on the shoulder for it—record his statement and play it back clip by clip.

"If I had to guess Argus or the Army created them," Kara spoke up with a shrug, "And then they got a little out of control which is why you contacted me and asked me to help you guys out with the cleanup."

She was holding her left arm at an awkward angle. Oliver looked at her suspiciously fearing she had been hurt, but she waved him off.

"This is considered a little out of control?" Barry asked dryly though he had a slight smile on his face, "And I thought seeing Cisco fly a drone through the cortex was insane."

He continued dusting himself off and little by little his red suit gained it natural color again.

"Hey! That was only one time and it was a complete accident," Cisco grumbled, "Also seriously man? What the hell did you do with my suit!? It looks like you picked a fight with a dust devil."

"It's my suit," Barry muttered, "I wear it."

Kara laughed and Oliver cracked a small but rare smile. He allowed the expression to remain on his face for only a few seconds before glancing down the street through the dust that filled the air. It was hard to see past five feet in front of them. He could barely make out the ghostly shapes of overturned cars and the burning wreckage of one of the machines.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Barry dropped his cocky grin and frowned, "I don't hear anything."

Cisco's eyes widened and he started edging away from them glancing nervously in every direction.

"Exactly," Oliver flipped one of his arrows out of the quiver and nocked it in one fluid motion, "It's gone quiet. Too quiet."

" _I'm not picking up any electronic signatures on Wayne Boulevard_ ," Felicity's voice came in over the airways for the first time in a long while.

" _Cisco you better get some cover_ ," Catlin's voice added, " _You're not bullet proof like Supergirl_."

"Yes... _mother_ ," Cisco rolled his eyes before brightening up, "You know I could possibly stop the bullets' paths by blasting them."

" _Will someone please slap him for me_?"

Barry punched his friend in the shoulder and grinned as he dusted his hands off, "Will punching him do?"

Cisco lunged for him but the speedster easily stepsided. Oliver rolled his eyes and took another step forward even as his friends started fooling around. Pedestrians had long left the area but the sounds of sirens had been cut off abruptly as if someone had turned on the mute button controlling sound in the world. Even the birds were silent.

"I don't like this..." he muttered.

Kara glanced at him and cocked her head to the side. She frowned, expressing her confusion. Even Cisco stopped horsing around and wiggled his way free from under Barry's arm.

"Agreed," the speedster straightened up and glanced around, "I have this...uneasy feeling about—"

There was a sudden sound. Oliver did not know how to describe it. It sounded almost like a freight train on a collision course. A blinding flash of light entered his line of vision and completely wiped out their surroundings. He flailed out blindly trying to find his friends. There was a screaming noise, it got louder and louder. It sounded almost inhuman in sound and frequency. It filled his ears and he realized it was him screaming. The light grew brighter until he had to close his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded. Something struck his arm no doubt Kara who had been standing next to him when the blast happened. He tried grabbing a hold of her arm but grasped nothing but empty air. Then the sound cut off abruptly so Oliver's entire world was plunged into darkness of hearing. His body felt as if it were on fire and being compressed at the same time. The high pain tolerance level he always had was now obsolete.

He opened his mouth to scream again but he could not utter a single sound. The light had long disappeared but he could not open his eyes to look at his surroundings. There was just darkness. The only sound he could hear was his heart beating and the blood pulsating through his ears.

As he listened that one sound, grew fainter and fainter. He was no longer aware of what was happening around him. Then...he blacked out completely with a single word on his mind.

" _Felicity_."

* * *

"Oliver? Oliver?"

Felicity frantically typed command after command into the computer. She typed so fast that the keyboard started smoking. Complete static had filled the sound system and the traffic cam that the team had been watching the battle on had been cut off. A single frame had been frozen on it. A frame showing Oliver covering his face, Kara shielding Cisco with her body, and Barry with his face turned halfway towards his friends and halfway towards Felicity. His eyes were wide with fear and surprise. A giant billowing bright bluish white ball of light was enveloping them...and its origin was unknown. It had appeared so suddenly that they had been unable to inform their teammates in the field.

"Oh God!" Felicity slammed her fists on the table making the computer and several monitors leap into the air, "Oliver! Barry?! Kara!? Anybody!?"

" _Shit! What the hell just happened_!?" Rene screamed into the mike.

He picked himself off the ground and was soon followed by his teammates who were all groaning in pain except for one.

"Do you ever stop cussing?" Rory shuffled to his feet and muttered softly in his disemboweled voice; suggesting he still had the rags wrapped around his face.

His 'rags' which gave him his abilities, had prevented any visible injury from being inflicted on him by the explosion.

Based on Felicity's tracking algorithm, Oliver's teammates were currently standing in an alleyway a couple of blocks away from the other big time heroes. They had been tasked with hunting down an machines that managed to escape them and evacuate the populace if need be. Needless to say Rene had not been pleased and had to be frog-hopped out of the area by Kara before he started a full blown flight with Oliver.

The explosion or whatever just happened was loud enough to have the four reeling back from the percussion wave and blinking furiously to get the black dots out of their eyesight. Felicity's statement though...made their hidden fears about the others become reality.

"Stuff it Rags. I'm serious. What the hell just happened?" Rene jerked his head around, uselessly trying to pin-point the origin of the blast.

"I'm sure as soon as we find out about it we'll tell you," Curtis said cautiously.

"Oh not you—"

"Both of you knock it off," Thea snapped, "Arguing is not going to solve anything."

She glared venomously at her two teammates. Rory shifted uneasily even though her gaze was not directed towards him. Thea expressed her annoyance with a heavy and loud blast of air from her nose before touching her hand to the comn link.

"Overwatch? What happened?"

"I don't know," Felicity replied nearly choking, "I-I don't know where they went."

"Who went?" Rory asked, beating Wild Dog to the question.

"Oliver," she answered miserably as she flickered through different servers on her computer, "Barry. Kara. That explosion...made them disappear. I think...they're dead."

There was dead silence, only broken by a lone police siren that grew louder and louder as it drew closer to their location. Rory was the first to move. He gently tugged on Thea's arm and started to tug her towards the path that lead out of the alleyway into another one. She complied silently; all the fight went out of her upon hearing Felicity and she moved as limply as a ragdoll, And soon...very silently, she began to weep softly. As he left, Rory quietly told Felicity that they were coming back to base. Soberly, Curtis and Rene followed them. Rene kept yanking on his hockey mask and fiddling with the pistols attached to his belt.

"I should of been there," he muttered silently "I should have been there. I could have warned them."

Curtis had no response. Instead he remained silent; slowing rubbing his idea finger against a hole one of the robots had left behind on his jacket. The bold red lettering 'Fair Play' on both arms was blackened with soot and grime. His hair was an absolute mess and the burning smell he kept smelling was definitely coming off him.

He allowed Rene to walk in front of him. He didn't want the man to see the tears coming down his face.

They were gone. They were really gone.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

* * *

 **PLEASE REVIEW! I will try to update as soon as possible. Though...I might update quicker the more reviews I get. Anyways...thanks!**

 *** Zoo is a novel/book about animals going crazy, killing people, and basically taking over the world. Very creepy story. DO NOT recommend reading it alone.**

 **Gordon. Couldn't help myself. I had to do at least** ** _one_** **Batman Easter Egg. No it isn't James Gordon of GCPD, but I borrowed his last name.**

 **\- Sil**


	2. Chapter 2

**I love the support I received the first chapter! I hope this one is just as interesting for you guys.**

 **As when this takes place in the Marvel Cinematic verse? After Civil War and Spiderman Homecoming (I know it hasn't been released but then again this is mostly about the Avengers).**

 **Arrowverse? Couple of episodes after Mid-season finales (course I am just going to speculate on what will happen. Future chapters will add more details as they come from the episodes).**

 **Characters appearing?** **Hard to say. You see how it goes.**

 _ **Italics**_ **are used for sound effects, emphasis, different language (That will take _forever_ to translate) and comn systems/electronic voices. **

**Shout Outs To "Guests"**

 **Crystal** — **Thank you. Hopefully I won't abandon this story since I have so many people who like it :)**

 **Aya—Thank you :)**

 **Disclaimer:** **I own none of the characters; all rights go to CW/DC Comics and Marvel/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Alley Way, three blocks West of Empire State Building_

 _19:00 hours_

The cold water alone would have woken him up. But having a metal bucket dropped on his ribs? That _definitely_ completed the waking process; with pain added to the shock factor.

"Ouch," Barry sat up with a groan and rubbed the throbbing bruise on the top of his head.

He eyed his surroundings and was pleased to find that Oliver and Cisco seemed all right. Aside from the fact the Oliver looked as queasy as Barry felt and Cisco looked as if he was going to throw up...both men looked fine. Cisco's vibe glasses lay crocked upon his nose and a hair line crack ran across one of the lenses. The glow had dimmed from it and it looked as if it was broken.

Kara however, was the only one who seemed unaffected by the sudden transportation. She looked rather sheepish and judging by the puddle of water pooling beneath her, it appeared she had either dove or sprayed by a body of water when trying to retrieve some. More likely the former.

"Sorry," she frowned as she picked the bucket up where it had rolled off to the side, "I didn't mean to drop the bucket on your chest. It kind of flew out of my hand after I dumped the water."

She set it down with a clank on the top of nearby trashcan and gave him a small apologetic smile. She immediately grabbed the end of her cape and started wringing it out.

"I'm not mad," the speedster huffed as he got to his feet, "Just—groan."

The world started spinning and red dots swarmed in front of his eyes. He bent over so his head was pointing down to the ground with his hands on his knees and closed his eyes with a grimace. Worst...vertigo... _ever_. Even the time he had accidently slammed the back of his head into a metal pole when he tried retrieving a paper from the evidence room—hard enough to knock himself out—the headache afterwards was nothing compared to this.

His side stung and he rubbed his broken ribs while allowing air to hiss out of his mouth. He hated breaking bones. When he breathed, it felt like someone was stabbing a knife into his lungs repeatingly. Of course he knew they would heal eventually but it still didn't help the pain lessen. The odd thing was feeling them heal; as the bones knitted together he could feel it. That was something someone could not not get used to.

"How long was I out?" he muttered without looking up to allow the pain to die down.

He knew his comn link had been compromised by the faint static in his ears. Barry stifled a curse knowing that Catlin and the rest of their teams/friends were probably freaking out by now since their bio signatures probably either disappeared or were off the charts. And that they had disappeared completely from Star City.

"Five hours...I checked," Kara answered as-a-matter-of factly, able to answer him because of her super hearing, "Don't feel bad...all"—she gestured at their other friends—"...all of us just woke up a couple minutes ago. At least you didn't throw up when you woke up."

Barry glanced up at her with an arched eyebrow—which was hard to do and to show when you wore a mask that covered most of your face. He did not know whether she was joking or not. Unfortunatly, he could smell the sour stench of vomit...and it wasn't too old either.

So he took the answer as a no.

"Like I did," Cisco gave him a weak smile as he shakily removed his glasses and placed them in his pocket, "Sorry bro. Last thing anyone wants to wake up smelling."

Oliver straightened up and compressed his bow in storage position. His face was a startling shade of green but as Barry watched the unnatural color subsided. He decided it best not to tease his friend for having his skin turn the color of his vigilante's namesake. He knew it wasn't the best time to nor did he want to get shot.

The archer shouldered his bow before grumbling, "If we're done checking on each other...I think we should ask...where are we?"

"Nice to know that you care," Kara muttered under her breath.

Barry and Cisco shared a look. Something seemed rather off...but neither could answer their shared question. Where were they? At the entrance of the alley they were standing in, they could see several highrise buildings and skyscrapers illuminated by a dusky sky. Many looked like places seen in movies but none were like the buildings in Star, Central or National City. Barry frowned thoughtfully as he peered out of the alley cautiously. There were several pedestrians walking on the sidewalk, but fortunately they did not indicate they had seen a man with a quiver of arrows on his back, a man with an... _unusual_ T-shirt (and a heavy leather jacket and gauntlets), a guy dressed in an dark red outfit with a lightning bolt in the middle, and a woman with a giant S on her chest. If they did, well...Barry was happy they didn't do anything. He painfully shuffled back into the alleyway but made sure to keep an eye on the entrance. He grimaced as his ribs grated against each other, resisting the urge to itch them.

"I think we are in New York," Cisco pointed out a familiar building in the distance as the lights on the top of it flickered on, "Empire State Building. Oh man...this brings back horrible memories of my eighth grade field trip here..."

Kara shrugged and hovered several feet off the ground with her arms crossed, "Well... _considering_ we got transported halfway across the country at least its still earth. I still have my powers. Maybe you to Barry..."

He flickered her a small smile at least happy she had tried to cheer them up. He glanced down at his hand and made it vibrate. Yellow lighting sparked off letting him know his powers were likewise working. Barry nodded to his friends and Oliver only grunted to signal that he had seen it.

"Maybe we should look around?" Cisco asked as he tugged the gauntlets off his hands and stuffed them into his jacket's pocket.

"As civilians," Oliver said in a tone of voice that left no room for counter-argument, "Until we figure out where we are...we go as...regular people."

He pulled a wallet out of his pocket and started counting out cash and change. Barry arched an eyebrow prompting his friend to shoot him a look that read " _say a word and you're dead_."

"How?" Kara asked cocking her head to the side, "I left my civilian clothing in an alley in Star city. At least I always carry my glasses in a hidden pocket."

To prove her point, she took them out and placed them on the bridge of her nose before storing them away again. The glasses made her look less of a superhero and more like harmless reporter. Apparently they were specially made—or at least she said so, since the speedster had asked her when they first met—with lead lining the rims. It was able to tone down her incredible periscope vision making it easier for her to blend in with humans.

"Secret pocket," the archer grunted still counting out the money.

Barry shot a dirty look at Oliver, slightly annoyed his friend had not gotten mad at Kara for asking that specific question. Maybe her invulnerability had something to do with it...or maybe because Oliver didn't like hitting girls. Nope...definitely the first one. Barry had seen what had happened to a robber's hand after he tried punching her in the face. Least he could say after the experience, was that he pitied anyone with splintered wrist bones.

"I vote we said we were just at a Cosplay party!" Cisco volunteered.

"No," Oliver and Barry said in unison.

Kara snorted and covered her mouth to keep the giggles from escaping.

"Then who's going to get the clothing?" Cisco demanded, "Cause I'm not. I already get yelled at by my fashion sense by Catlin. And uh...I don't want to explain why I look like I had gotten into a fight."

He grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and glanced down at the cartoon decorating the front of it. He sighed as he fingered a scorch mark on it.

"I'll grab them," Barry sighed putting his hand out to accept the money from Oliver, "You wouldn't believe how many times I have to do this back home."

He peered out of the alley before glancing down at his his still throbbing side. Running was definitely not going to be the most comfortable thing to do to his ribs right now. He just prayed he was not going to pass out before racing out into the street. Civilians looked around when a cold breeze slapped them in the face and caused stray papers to flutter up in the air. They however did not notice the origin of the breeze, nor did they pursue the matter.

After all...it could have been from _any_ of the residential vigilantes. Or perhaps even from a former Avenger.

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Avengers Tower_

 _19:20 hours_

Tony Stark was bored. And that was the understatement of the century; he _always_ was bored.

Sure...he knew he dozens of meeting this weeks alone including one today at eight o' clock. Pepper had yelled had him just the other day for sending business men to a Wakanda embassy in an effort to ask their king—also known as King T'Challa—permission to mine for vibranium in their land. Supposedly, the ancient city sat on the top of a mountain of the rare mineral. Basically Tony's previous ally sent him a very...err...colorful letter back in response (Tony figured the cussing was Clint's handy work).

And as an added insult...The Stark Relief Fund (for helping people recover in Sokovia for the past two years and a half) and the little skirmish between Iron Man and his former teammates, had been bombarded with criticism on all the major news networks and papers; CNN, The New York Times...the works. Even more so than they criticized some of the presidential candidates. It was enough to make him irritated so that he locked himself up in his workroom. Which led back to his current predicament...he was _bored_.

Tony popped a handful of peanuts in his mouth and began to chew. He was absolutely blasé and even the piles of junk metal and gizmos littering his desk were doing nothing to extinguish that feeling. He wiped his mouth clean leaving behind salt in his scruffy beard.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" he called out into the empty room, "Do you have any suggestions on getting rid of boredom?"

" _Boredom sir? I do not understand the meaning of the word_ ," the AI's disembodied voice echoed through the room.

Tony shot a glare at the ceiling, "Is that a joke? You're practically a Wikipedia! Look up the word."

" _Sorry sir..._ "

The tech genius groaned and sat back in his chair rubbing his eyes. Apart from the one attack from Hydra and an unexpected mission to the Savage Land, the entire week had been uneventful.

He wrinkled up his nose and grabbed a piece of electronic gear— its appearance similar to grabber hand in an arcade—with multicolored wires sticking out the bottom of it. He barely started tinkering with it when the AI's voice boomed.

" _Unknown energy output detected five miles away from here Mr. Stark_."

With a loud and bored yawn, Tony pulled up a scan on touchscreen. He eyed it and saw the energy spike in the center of the city, clearly marked with a rich glowing yellow dot that pulsated. It looked similar to marking that appeared on the screen a week before and that energy spot just happened to be a minor human error. _So_ _not_ worth barging out of the tower to take care of.

"Maybe its another power surge," Tony grumbled without budging from his seat or releasing his grip on his project, "That butter-fingered technician probably fried the inner workings... _again_. Let the city handle it."

He shoved another handful of peanuts in his mouth and started chewing loudly again. Tony crumpled the touchscreen like a piece of paper, tossed it behind him—not caring when it bounced off the edge of the virtual waste basket—,and shoved the unfinished project to the side before pulling up a scan of his latest suit. He started tinkering around with it still chewing. He fumbled around without taking his eyes off the screen and his hand found a water bottle which he started to drink from.

" _Sir...I hate to be the bearer of bad news_ , " F.R.I.D.A.Y continued, " _But this energy contains consistent levels of other-worldly radiation similar to type you dealt with the wormhole that opened when the Chitauri invaded New York. I am picking up several signatures but I cannot calculate how many._ "

Tony nearly choked on the remaining peanuts and spewed the water with peanut pieces all over his desk. He coughed a couple of times before saying hoarsely as he sat up.

"Run by that me again?"

The A.I repeated itself and Tony sighed before springing out of his rollaway chair. The chair spun around as it shot across the room, its pathway cut off when it slammed into a desk.

"Send out an alarm to all the Avengers in the tower. We need to check this out," he held out his hand.

His suit exploded from the storage bin and clamped onto him. Within seconds he was armed and ready to go even with a slight bruise on his face. He had yet to perfect the padding in his face mask, it _still_ slammed into his face like a fastball. Tony sniffed as the glowing statistics and icon screen appeared across the helmet's face.

" _I'm sorry sir...but there are no Avengers present_."

Tony let out a groan of annoyance, in his excitement he had forgotten the team had split. He was incredibly tempted to call Steve; after all he had left him a note stating that he would come back if he was needed.

"Call Vision and Rhodes," he asked the A.I.

" _War Machine and Vision are currently dealing with a A.I.M attack along the Florida Coast."_

"Fury?" Tony asked desperately, "No most definitely _not_ him. Parker? No...he'd probably get annoyed at me since I made him fail that test he had. _And_ that he won't shut up. Pepper? Anyone who knows how to handle an electricity gun would do!"

 _"Would you like me to contact Steve Rogers sir?_ "

F.R.I.D.A.Y brought up a picture of Steve with a glowing phone icon below it. Tony rolled his eyes, "No I would not."

He blasted out of the tower and rocketed towards the signal. It turned out to be the worst decision he had ever made since the team split.

To his ego at least.

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Above and Around the city_

 _19:30 hours_

It was relatively quiet evening in New York by the populations standards. No random monster attacks for months and since the schism among the Avengers...it had been peaceful. Well...sort of considering the giant evil robot bird guy.

A teenager walked along the sidewalk holding his little sister's hand tightly; returning home from the sweet shop. The young girl giggled as she licked a giant dripping ice cream cone. Liquefied sweetness dribbled down the cone and all over her hands; making a sticky mess. The boy smiled at her before pressing the button to activate the crosswalk.

Then there was a sound of a sixteen wheeler on a collusion course. Both children watched as a glowing meteorite slammed into the side of the building. It imploded. Debris flew everywhere and chunks of concrete fell onto the street below. Panic insured and the boy was quick to whisk his sister away from the danger zone.

Tony sat up with a groan and rubbed his helmet. Statics flickered weakly across the screen in front of him before stabilizing. He used some of the pieces of the building he had littered around him, in order to shakily pull himself up. His bare hand felt the rough edges of concrete and had it imprinted on the tops of his fingers.

In front of him floated the woman who had swatted him into the building as if he had been a fly. She would have been quite pretty, pretty enough to flirt with, if it were not for the glowing white eyes that had steam wafting from them.

Perhaps accusing then grabbing her by the arm had not been the best idea. He had come across her in an alleyway, looking nervously across the street towards the crowds of people passing by. Scans showed she was part of the mysterious energy spike and the fact she was floating proved she definitely not human. So Tony decided to confront her about it. Bad mistake.

He initially had been nice about it. Asked her who she was and all the standard integration questions. When she had refused to budge, he had grabbed her and tried dragging her away. She had punched him in response, sending him plowing into a parked Lamborghini in the middle of the street. Almost immediately there was mass hysteria; which was _not_ working in his favor.

Stupidly, he had charged at her, but the woman simply grabbed him by the arm, spun him around, and threw him; blasting the back of his armor with lasers from her eyes. His entire armor coating his back had fused together, making it painful to stand up straight and prevented the automatic cooling system from functioning properly. Tony managed to regain some control of his suit, and had managed to lay a punch to her face.

His glove had shattered and his entire hand had vibrated like a gong. She didn't even flinch or express she had felt a punch that could have knocked out a full-grown elephant. While he had clutched his right hand to dull the pain from possibly splintering his knucklebones, she had kneed him in the stomach, and delivered a swift uppercut that sent him flying into the air.

Which lead to his current predicament.

"What do you have for me Friday?" he asked weakly.

" _Whrr...calculations whrrr woman is whrrr earth. Whrrrr skin appears whrrr. I whrrr_ —"

The A.I's voice grinded to a halt as its connection to Tony's armor had been severed. He swore colorfully before holding his left palm up. The repulser glowed faintly. At this point most people would be running in the other direction—save for a few stupid ones. But the woman drew closer, her red cape billowing off her back. She crossed her arms and scowled. The whitish-red glow in her eyes faded back to a normal iris; greyish-blue in color, but which still had a spark of fire in them.

"Who do you work for?" she asked.

"Work for?" Tony let out a bark of laughter, " _Now your integrating me? Why won't you kill the killer eye balls and lets talk about this gorgeous_."

"You work for Cadmus don't you?" she continued as she had not heard him.

" _Who?"_ the billionaire lowered his arm.

The repulser was worse than useless anyway. Already he could feel it heating up even though he had not used it.

"Take this message back to your boss's cronies," the woman growled her eyes flashing dangerously, "Stay away from the populace. Or next time I'll be less merciful with the fancy suit."

Before he could open his mouth, she turned and flew off. A sonic boom accompanied her wake; shattering several windows and setting off thousands of car alarms. Tony collapsed onto his back and spread his arms out like Jesus on the cross. His helmet popped open and a couple of sparks flew. Even though he hadn't fought the woman that long, his suit had sustained critical damage.

"Shit..." he muttered before passing out.

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Avengers Tower; Tony's Workshop_

 _04:30 hours_

" _Would you like me to call Captain Rogers?_ " F.R.I.D.A.Y buzzed pleasantly.

Tony glared up at the ceiling. He had been woken up by the janitor who had arrived at the building early to clean up for the workers. The poor man must have had a heart attack upon seeing the damage to the building. Tony had promised to pay for the damages before limping back home; his suit billowing out puffs of smoke and leaking oil onto the street below.

Unfortunatly, this little incident was probably going to be on the news all day. Not exactly good for his image or his stocks. On the bright side...he had missed the stupid meeting.

He groaned slightly and picked up the ice pack to rest on the knot forming on his head. Conking one's head on concrete even with padding still hurt.

"No," he growled.

" _But maybe you should_ ," a voice in the back of his head said, _"You just got your fanny handed to you_."

" _Shut up me,_ " Tony thought dropping the ice pack on his crowded desk.

" _You'll never hear the end of it from Fury if this turns out to be a full scale attack. Even though there was one alien, there are probably more with her._ "

"Gah!" Tony slammed his hands against head before wincing as the pain began anew, "Get out of my head whoever is speaking!"

" _This is you conscious speaking_ ," the annoying little voice continued speaking, _"Now get your hollow head out of your ass and call your friend_."

"I'm not listening! La, la, la!"

F.R.I.D.A.Y probably thought he had lost it.

After battling his different opinions for another ten seconds, his conscience finally won over. It was rather annoying considering he did not even know he _had_ a conscience. While he gritted his teeth, Tony managed to hack into Wakanda's signal (after about five minutes of cursing and groaning) and dial Steve's number. Privately he hoped that the call wouldn't go through. After all...he could handle a couple of aliens himself couldn't he?

Immediately he could have smacked himself but didn't want to risk turning the headache to turn into a concussion. Forget the aliens...what about General Ross? He was going to be so PO'd that a certain billionaire had contacted a fugitive—correction _fugitives_ —of the U.S Government.

With a grim smile, Tony relished the thought of throwing the arrogant general off the Empire State Building and catching him inches from the ground. But he knew that would be going a bit too far. He was picturing the image so perfectly that he nearly jumped out of his skin when the call was answered.

"Tony I'm surprised you called so soon..." Capsical's voice came in through the airways and he sounded slightly annoyed; less than Tony felt.

Though...the tech-genius had to admit that the Captain was still quite punctual; it had only been five seconds since the call went through.

"Hasn't it been only three months?" Clint's clearly ticked off voice cut in, "Tony, you are lucky that you are halfway across the world. Or else this new sonic arrow that I am _dying_ to try out on a target, would be going right up your—"

"Clint," Steve said warningly cutting the archer's rant off.

There was a period of several uncomfortable seconds.

"Look sorry Cap. I don't have time for another of your 'lectures," Tony eventually said sarcastically, "As much as I would like to say 'Happy early April fools' and I dialed the wrong number...this time I can promise I am not kidding. I received some energy readings that were similar to ones we had when our alien buddies invaded. I uh...tried to investigate the situation."

"Let me guess," Steve's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, a trait the billionaire could never fit with him, "It went badly."

"Maybe...maybe not," Tony flipped a pencil at Butterfingers who was sitting in the corner, "Important thing was no one got hurt. Anyways I kind of need your help. It was only one alien but...she could make Big Green have a run for his money with her power. Get the rest of them—or at least whoever is available or willing—and meet me at the airport. I'll be sure to pay the ground control off so Ross doesn't find out about it. Oh and Clint...nice to hear from you to buddy. You haven't changed at all."

"Why you—"

Without waiting for his teammate to finish his reply, Iron Man severed the connection and slumped back against his seat. He groped around for the ice pack and pressed it against his throbbing head before sighing deeply. Butterfingers stirred in his corner and picked up the pencil that had been flung at him. He placed it on the table, knocking some papers down in the process; reminding Tony why he had bothered giving the machine that particular name. He sighed deeply and massaged his temple.

If it was another alien invasion Fury was going to be pissed. Not to mention General Ross. But Tony was pretty sure he could handle him...after all...he had some friends that could help out in the kidnapping and memory erasing process: that is if there were a machine that could do it.

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Wakanda; The Black Panther's Palace_

 _10:30 hours_

"Why should we help him!? He stabbed us in the back and then ran all over us."

Clint was practically fuming and had he had his bow or nightsticks would have probably started shooting/hitting every available target near him—which would _not_ make T-Challah happy. Cap eyed him and waited patiently for his friend to stop pacing back and forth. Sam furrowed his brow as the archer continued to rant and rave and spew language that probably not make his wife happy. Wanda had hidden her head between her arms and looked as if she had given up hope on trying to calm Clint down. T-Challah watched the entire scene unfold silently, but it was obvious his irritation was growing.

"Clint," he said eventually, curtly ," _Enough_. Abena is tired of patching up the walls from your target practice and the floors with your pacing."

The archer shot him a filthy look but knowing better than to tangle with T-Challah, sat down at a table that the Panther King had set up in the middle of the room. A wide room had a breathtaking view of the surrounding jungles around the palace and village. A thin veil of fog blanketed the tops of the trees. In the distance twin waterfalls rumbled as billions of gallons of water tumbled over the side. Liquid spray caught the light of the rising sun. The tension in the room visibly decreased once the screech of a tropical bird vibrated through one of the open windows.

"If Tony's right," Steve said slowly, "And this is a new invasion of monsters...then the Avengers have to be reinstituted."

Scott Lang who was perched on the edge of the table, kicking his legs back and forth paled before shooting his hand up into the air like a student asking a teacher, "Er...Captain America sir?"

"I already told you, you can call me Steve."

"Um right... _Steve_ ," Scott scrunched his head between his shoulders, "I think arrow guy has a point."

"Thank you!" Clint threw his head back and stared at the ceiling before throwing his arms out, " _Finally_ someone understands me!"

"But if you are going...uh...do me a favor and drop me off in San Francisco? My um... _friends_ are probably worried sick considering I've been missing for about a year. And Cat guy hasn't exactly allowed me to call them."

Clint's features morphed into a mortified expression that was so hilarious looking that Steve saw Wanda stiff a giggle.

"Outside calls are not permitted. You know that Mr. Lang," T-Challah replied stiffing crossing his arms, "I have yet to figure out how Stark managed to breach my security."

"That's Tony for you," Steve shook his head, "I'm sorry your Highness but do you have a jet we can borrow?"

"Of course," the Panther King inclined his head, "Wakanda has the highest technological advances since the Iron Man suit. It will be able to get you to New York within hours. You may borrow it for your quest."

Cap nodded and decision was final. They would be going to meet up with Tony sooner rather than later. It made him rather uneasy...but he knew it was necessary. Tony rarely joked and if this was a joke...well...Steve was tempted to allow Clint to have free reign with his bow.

"So its settled," he said walking over to rest his hands on the table, "We all go to New York—except for Scott."

Steve paused for a minute awaiting any protests looking at his reflection in the shiny exterior of the wood. He counted the number of rings in it; using each ring to count off seconds. He waited two minutes...three.

"No objections?" the super-solider asked wearily.

"No Cap," to Steve's surprise Clint spoke up, "I trust your judgment. We are going to New York."

Steve smiled slightly, caught off guard long enough that he did not scold his friend his friend by calling him by his old title. He didn't want to give people a false hope with a name that did not mean anything any more. He was no longer the benevolent captain that everyone looked to in times of trouble. He was a vigilante...a fugitive.

"Except for me," T-Challah said, "I will have to stay behind and work on several diplomatic matters. Plus...I do not think your government would appreciate my appearance in your country any time soon."

He pulled out from a large filing cabinet, a large round parcel wrapped in a thick cloth and laid it on the table.

"And this is for you Captain," the Panther King's face did not change but there was a hint of amusement in his voice, "It should serve you well."

Steve paused for a minute as if considering something but thought better than to say it. He unwrapped the parcel and found his old shield staring up at him. The metal glinted in the florescent lights. There was absolute silence in the room and Steve made no move to take it.

He swallowed noticing how metal gleamed brighter, enticing him to pick it up. T-Challah apparently had retrieved it from where Steve had dropped it after his fight with Tony and repaired it in secret. Afterwards he had hidden, it only to bring it out when he found out that Tony had asked for the old Avengers back.

"Steve...are you sure?" Sam's voice was hesitant as he spoke.

In response, Steve picked up his shield and slung it across his shoulders. The cool metal molded into his shoulder blades like old times but yet it seemed to burn like ice.

He swallowed again before nodding, "Let's go."

Clint spoke up, "And is it possible to pick someone else up before we drop Ant-Dork off? I...err...kind of have her number."

Cap nodded understanding the individual he was talking about. She would not be happy on missing out on whatever action Tony had told them about.

"Arrow-guy," Scott got to his feet, "You're lucky my suit is in the other room."

Cap closed his eyes and turned away as the men bickered. He thought, _"I hope you are serious about this Tony. For both our sakes_."

* * *

 **Yes, yes I know. I'm bringing back the Avengers before** **"Infinity War Part 1" was released. But considering how the Chitauri invasion went with the Avengers not really getting along initially...makes them not a repeat of that with the 'new' invaders. And I am estimating how much time has past since this happens after Spider Man Homecoming.**

 **FYI I literally have no idea what happened to Cap's shield after CACW. So please...die hard fans do not go on a rant with me since this is my idea of what happened to the shield.**

 **Also I really apologize for giving so much Tony POV in one chapter. He's so arrogant that its hard to write about him so much. Fortunately, the next chapter will have the POV split up more evenly.**

 **(Total Team Cap supporter!)**

 **Hmmm...since there were ten reviews the first chapter, lets try to get to ten or ten plus in order to update quicker. :) The more interest there is, the quicker the updates, as you guys are the people who inspire me to continue these stories!**

 **Thanks for the support!**

 **~Sil**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter.**

 **Read this first please.**

 **So you guys do not get confused I guess I should explain the time line: It has roughly been a day since Tony got his behind handed to him by Kara. Let's just say that she talked to her friends about it and they are now on the lookout. Tony meanwhile has to deal with his ex-teammates who are not really pleased about him not telling them about this 'invasion' earlier.**

 **I know Clint said it has been three months. But to clarify, its roughly been a year and a half since the split up. Hope this helps!**

 ** _Italics_** **are used for sound effects, emphasis, different language and comn systems/electronic voices.**

 **Also I am trying something new with the chapters. Hope you guys like it!**

 **Shout outs to Guests**

 **Tenza-I apologize for forgetting to respond to you. Thank you for the kind words, and unfortunately Petro _will not_ be alive in this fanfic. Sorry. But that does not mean he can reappear through flashbacks. **

**Aya-Thank you! :D**

 **Guest-Thank you**

 **Crystal- Team Cap forever! The real fun will start very soon, but I don't want to pull a Season 1 Barry Allen and rush into things. Gradually each chapter is going to lead up to them meeting each other.**

 **Ha! Lets just say Clint and Oliver are not going to think very highly of each other. Or maybe just Clint. With Oliver its hard to tell what he's feeling like. You are more likely to prank Tony without him finding out, than discover Oliver's current emotion (in some cases).**

 **Guest (1) & (2)-Thanks for the support guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing; DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel character belong to Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_— _Alley Way, three blocks West of Empire State Building_

 _13:00 hours_

"Not a joke...I swear it," Clint said mockingly, "You seriously called me and the rest of your former teammates to come check out an alleyway? You're lucky Cap managed to drag me out of that fight that biker was going to drag me into. Laura's gonna kill me for that...and for this. Why did I even bother coming back?"

He started trying to imitate Tony's face—when the genius was confident and 'knew' when he was right—but doubled over before he could and started laughing. He nearly slipped on a puddle of water in the alleyway but caught his balance in time; knocking a nearby trashcan over in the process. It slammed to the ground causing a bucket to roll off in front of them. But even the near wipeout could not wipe the smirk off Clint's face.

He hopped up onto a windowsill and sat down, swinging his feet back and forth as he watched his teammates.

"Shut up Hawkeye," Tony grumbled popping his face mask off to expose a swollen black eye that was halfway shut, "I know for _sure_ this is where the energy signature originated from. And seriously? Why couldn't you have done this teasing _after_ stepping off the jet? It would have been better than a punch to the face. I've had it happen to me _twice_ already within a span of seven hours!"

He crossly kicked the metal bucket out of the way and scrunched his face up in pain as the sound of metal on metal rang out. Tony wanting to blame someone for the noise, proceeded to blow an angry raspberry at the archer who continued smirking. The rest of the team—save for Sam who asked to be dropped off in his home town to visit his mother (though Steve suspected he wanted to delay meeting Tony as long as possible)—decided to hide out in the tower in order to keep the news of them getting back together low key. Cap completely ignoring his teammate's antics, knelt down by the nearly evaporated water puddle and glanced up at the sky, his brow furrowed. He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Where did this water come from?" he asked standing up with his hands in his pockets, "There was no rain last night, there is not cloud in the sky and there aren't any leaky pipes."

Cap glanced up as he spoke before turning back to his friends.

"Maybe it came from Tony wetting his pants when he saw that alien," Clint snickered, "I wonder if he did _before_ or _after_ she punched him."

He hopped off the window and wandered over to them with a causal, cocky stroll. Tony rolled his eyes, popped his helmet back down, and held his arm out. Frowning he manipulated the controls in his helmet to run a scan of the area. The scan came up with zero energy readings.

"For the record, I _did not_ wet my pants Hawkeye. I'm beginning to regret that I told you what happened, " seeing Steve's annoyed look,Tony brought the conversation back on track, " _Well...whatever brought that lady to this alleyway...is now gone_."

"So I take your systems glitched?" Clint smirked.

Tony sick of his comments, took a swat at him; but the archer ducked at the last second. Sparks shot out when the armor struck the side of the wall, making Tony curse and jerk his hand back.

"No," he grumbled clutching his armored hand as he examined it, before sticking his tongue out at Clint who of course could not see it, "They didn't glitch! _My systems never do."_

The archer arched his eyebrow to imply what he was thinking: _Yeah right...and the popcorn incident a few years ago was another glitch in your system. My mistake._

"What happened that year then?" Steve asked with a faint smile on his face, "How can you explain the situation we had when you claimed a S.H.I.E.L.D outpost was on fire? And when we arrived it turned out to be that an agent accidently placed metal in a microwave. I'm surprised you haven't fixed that tech problem yet."

" _How am I suppose to know that was my tech's secret weakness_?" Tony whined sarcastically.

Clint grinned wolfishly and leaned over to whisper in Steve's ear.

"Give up Cap. He's never going to admit when he's wrong."

Steve suppressed a smile and only nodded slightly in response. Tony completely missing the gesture kept on complaining.

" _And now I suppose you are going to mention that little accident I had last week with that tech guy at that—_ "

"Ok...we get it Shell Head," Clint grumbled rolling his eyes to the heavens in exasperation, "Your little systems didn't fail. One thing is for sure...I did not miss your whining at _all_. Sheesh...and you say Cap's 'lectures' are annoying." Realizing what he had said, the archer was quick to add, "Um...no offense Steve."

"None taken."

" _Yeah whatever_ ," Tony rolled his eyes before glaring at his friends through the statics bars scrolling down his helmet, "I just hope that the others don't hear about the alarm I described to you. Or that we just found squat besides a water puddle; I'm looking at the two of you when I say this. I'll never hear the end of it. _And no blackmailing me Clint. I can still tell Sam whenever I see him, why his wing pack went on the fritz that day..._ "

Clint's stony and pissed off expression clearly showed he understood. There was slight rumbling noise and the earth shook slightly as if in response to his words. Steve glanced at Tony in confusion, in lieu the man shrugged instead of making another ridiculous comment. The super-solider sighed and looked up the clear blue sky before strolling over to his motorcycle and before habitually walking to the hooks where he usually hung his shield; temporarily forgetting he had left it at the tower. He picked a baseball cap off the seat and pushed it down on his head so it hid his features. He didn't need anyone to recognize him.

"While you two bicker, " he said shrugging a leather jacket on, "I'm going to go see if I can overhear any information we can use to our advantage. But I won't directly talk to anyone...we can't be too cocky."

"Since when are you the champion eavesdropper?" Clint asked with a crooked smile.

Steve shrugged, "May not or may have done it as a kid when it came to regarding enlisting posts."

" _Define when you were a kid_ ," Tony teased.

"Better be careful," Clint remarked pulling the hood on his jacket up and slipping on a pair of sunglasses, "Last thing we need is that jackass Ross from finding out..."

Steve smiled slightly and strolled out of the alleyway. Though his disguise was low tech, he was happy to see it worked. He wanted to keep his identity a secret for the time being and lessen the chance of General Ross from finding out.

General Ross...the smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. Steve normally liked most people but...there was something distinctly unpleasant about that man. Shaking his head, he pushed through the crowd making sure to avoid from lifting his head to allow people to look at his face. Instead he followed the familiar streets he had grown up with by memory.

That worked...until he walked right into someone. Literally.

* * *

 _Unknown earth: Location_ — _Busiek Internet Café _

_13:20 hours_

"No Central City, Star City, _or_ National City," Cisco leaned back in his chair and blew an exasperated raspberry, "Great... All I see on here are stories about some disaster in some country called Sokovia _and_ killer robots _and_ something about some team called the Avengers who had a big fight three months ago and split. _So_ made up...I mean the killer robots thing...I mean seriously _Terminator Series?_ Sokovia is a place I haven't heard of. Maybe a huge prank on the Internet? Also...Avengers? What idiot came up with a super lame name like that? I think Justice League would sound cooler."

Somehow he managed to say all of that without taking a pause or a break to allow his friends to have a say. He typed a few commands on the computer they were borrowing in an Internet café before grumbling curses under his breath; something about how slow the thing ran and possibly a few choice words in Spanish cursing everything about their predicament.

"Oh and that guy that attacked you last night," Cisco lowered his voice so only the team could hear it, "His name is Iron Man. Talk about a lame nickname...even I could come up with something better than _that_."

Kara shook her head silencing him. She still couldn't believe that Barry had suggested going to an Internet Café after what happened last night. He and the two other men had managed to vacate the area after changing into civvies. To give her privacy, they had left her alone in the alley; promising to meet up in Central Park to discuss where they would stay for the night. That was when she had run into...the Metal Man or whatever he was. She had X-rayed scanned his helmet, and managed to get a glimpse of his face; long enough that she would be able to recognize his face. He unpleasantly reminded her of Metallo, but fortunately the glowing light in the middle of his chest was not Kryptonite.

Then when he had grabbed her and talked to her...everything had become a blur. In fact she hadn't even realized she had beat the snot out of him until she saw him unconscious in the side of the building. It felt so much like the time she had been 'whammied'—as Barry defined it—that she had left feeling very shaken. Since 'Iron Man' vitals seemed pretty normal and he didn't have every bone in his body broken, she felt it would be better to leave him in the building where people would find him.

But still didn't mean that Cadmus had anything to do with this whole situation. Kara fidgeted slightly as her head started to throb again. Though she was invulnerable, it still kind of hurt when he punched her in the face. That she remembered. Not much of anything else.

She listened in to a conversation nearby with a young couple who were watching them. They were talking about this...Sokovia. She figured by their tone and their confusion to Cisco's statement that this country was real. And that meant the disaster was real to.

"None of us have heard of this place...country even though it appears to be real. So this means this possibly is an..." Kara started to say leaning forward to examine the screen.

"Alternate earth," Barry finished.

The Kryptonian looked at him abruptly unsure if the speedster was joking or not though she trusted his judgement. Barry catching her quizative gaze met it steadily. She could easily read in his brown eyes that he was dead serious.

"Great," Oliver muttered leaning in closer so that the other customers could not hear their conversation, "You sure Barry? Because the last time I got stuck with you we nearly got killed by those things invading our planet...not to mention our mind-controlled teammates—present company excluded in the term of 'invading' the earth."

His tone was slightly menacing and Kara feared that he was about to break out the bow and arrow. But perhaps the large amount of witnesses was the only reason why Barry didn't get an arrow in his back. Feeling sort of numb, she gave him a small smile in gratitude for the 'apology'. With Oliver...that was the closet some could get to a 'sorry'.

"Um..." the speedster's face flashed a bright shade of red similar to color of his suit for a moment as he edged a little closer to Kara's protective frame, "I'm hundred percent sure...no...actually ninety-nine point eight percent sure. Nothing is ever a hundred percent. No actually...ninety-five. But think about it...none of our cities are listed and now there is a country we have not heard of. Perhaps new elements as well."

He lowered his head and started picking at the threads sticking out of the sleeve of his newly purchased jacket. Fortunately, Barry had managed to buy all three of them clothing that fit them perfectly. Unfortunatly, they smelled like they been drying over a camp fire and of sweat (the motel that they had stayed at did not grasp the idea of owning laundry equipment). The speedster still had not yet managed to figure out how to prevent things he carried from spontaneous combusting; though he had gotten better; roughly thirty percent of things he carried still caught fire (which was a difference from fifty percent).

Kara adjusted her glasses slightly. She didn't need to use any of her powers to sense the tension in the room.

"So uh...now what?" she asked resting her hands gently on the back of Barry's chair. The wood creaked slightly as she pressed her strength into it, causing her to withdraw for a moment to prevent the furniture from crashing out beneath her.

"Until we figure out exactly what that bright flash of light was and how it brought us here," Cisco answered with a slight shrug, "I have no idea. I tried several times last night—until I passed out—trying to vibe the others and got _nada_. Stupid glasses are busted...I'm going to have to fix them."

"Could the device you gave me open a breech?" Kara asked hopefully before adding dejectly, "Which I left in Oliver's hangout."

He immediately shook his head, "Unfortunatly no. Even if we did have it, I programed it to _only_ open a breech between your earth and our earth, as well as communications. This earth has a different frequency which would interfere with the system. And until I have something that measures that said frequency...we are stuck here."

There was an ugly silence for a few moments. Oliver looked pretty ticked off but he fortunately did not make an effort to take out on anyone or anything.

"Hey...look on the bright side," Barry brightened up slightly, "At least we're not on an earth where we have doppelgangers that are evil."

Kara remembered he had said something similar to the first time he had met her and sensed a long story was behind that particular comment then and now. But she did not want to sidetrack the conversation by asking. So she kept quiet but made a mental reminder to ask her friend later.

"Pun...really?" Cisco cracked a smile and seeing his friend's confused look replied, "You know...' _bright_ flash of light' brought us here and just now you said 'look on the _bright_ side'."

Barry looked perplexed before shaking his head in confusion at his friend's statement, "How is that a pun?"

Oliver grunted, clearly unimpressed. He picked up a carry on bag he had purchased and slung it over his shoulder. His bow and quiver barley fit in it, and Kara was pretty sure he would set off a metal detector if they walked through one. She knew better than to argue though even though the archer would never lay a finger on her.

She nervously rubbed her arm as they walked out of the building. Kara decided not to mention to her friends that one of the machine's bullets had gotten lucky yesterday. The bullet fragment had traces of Kryptonite in it but fortunately not enough to enter her bloodstream. It had grazed it leaving a nasty scratch behind, but fortunately it was healing rather quickly with the aid of the sun. She began to wonder again secretly, if the machines had been created by project Cadmus, and had been somehow sent to Barry's earth—Earth 1. If so...it was troubling that the secret organization had managed to figure out how to breach between earths even though they had not gotten ahold of the wonderful device Cisco gave her—though a certain tech genius on her earth did and only through gentle threatening and bribes did she get it back.

"So now what?" Kara asked as they walked through the busy streets of Manhattan, "Are we going to...stay here? What if they need us back home? We are unable to get to them and...well..."

She trailed off uncertainly and bit her bottom lip.

Barry gave her a sheepish look,"Remember the first time we teamed up?"

"Yeah?"

"Well...um...when I returned to my earth only a second had past," he explained drumming his fingers on the side of his leg nervously, "Which could mean—"

"That only a limited amount of time will pass," Cisco interjected with a wide grin on his face, "Sweet! Perhaps in that time frame I will be able to open up a breech!"

He fist-pumped the air to express his joy and jostled a nearby pedestrian who shot him a startled look.

"And what if years have past?" Oliver grumbled hefting his bag into a more comfortable position, "Then what?"

"You always have to look to the negative side of things don't you?" Barry frowned nearly tripping over an aluminum soda can lying in his path.

Oliver arched an eyebrow before coming to a complete and sudden stop. Several pedestrians shot him dirty looks as they tried to maneuver around him through the thick traffic of people. Kara looked at the man quizatively.

"What is it?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Not sure. I just got an uneasy feeling for a second."

"Same here," Barry nodded looking around, "I don't like it...whatever it is...or was."

He glanced up at the sky at jet liner that came flying overhead, shading his eyes with his hand. It's engines must have been muffled to him, but to Kara's super hearing it sounded like super woofers had gone of in her head. She winced slightly and eased up on the super hearing. The roar of the engine soon died down as the plane passed behind a skyscraper.

Cisco scrunched his nose up, "I don't feel anything. Do you Kara?"

She shook her head and glanced in the direction of the plane had taken before looking back at her friends.

"Ah...I'm sure it was nothing," Barry grinned cheerfully as he picked the soda can up to examine it, "Maybe its a side effect of jumping universes."

But his voice sounded strained and Kara could see worry in his eyes as the speedster silently read the back of the aluminum container; almost as if it were a complex puzzle he could solve but did not have the answer to. She knew better than to ask him. Barry usually covered up his emotions with a cheerful demeanor so it was hard to read what he was really feeling like. But she also wondered...how did the two men feel a strange feeling while she and Cisco did not? Baffled, she could only nod in response to her friend's statement.

"Come on," Oliver sighed hefting his pack, "We should find some place to rest. Hopefully some place that does not have cockroaches the size of rats."

He started walking forward again, and Kara and the rest followed him. Barry silently tossed the can in a recycle bin as they passed, before stuffing his sticky fingers into his jacket pockets.

"And eat," Cisco added with a grin.

Kara laughed and was about to swat her friend's shoulder—gently as to not seriously dislocated his shoulder—when a man ran right into him. Both Cisco and the pedestrian went in two different directions. Barry managed to catch Cisco before he hit the ground, but the pedestrian was not as lucky. He managed to regain his footing but almost took out Oliver in the attempt. The archer swore and jumped back before one of the man's arms could catch him in the face.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked anxiously.

However, she was glad the pedestrian had not run into _her_. It would have rather complicated to explain how she didn't fall down and how he found out what it was like to run into a brick wall.

The man laughed, "I'm alright miss."

He stood up straight and adjusted his leather jacket with a quick jerk on the helm. He wore a baseball cap that covered most of his face but Kara could still see the wide smile he had. It seemed as if he was trying to hide his identity from the public. She felt a flicker of sympathy knowing what he felt like. It was hard to blend in with the general public when you were a well known celebrity or a hero—in the pedestrian's case he no doubt was a celebrity. He certainly played the part. The man was about as tall as Barry—who was no midget himself considering he was about six feet tall—, blondish colored hair peeking out from underneath his hat, and he looked like he was perfect shape and at the peek of health. The white T-shirt he was wearing was stretched tightly across his chest.

"Sorry," the man turned to Cisco who was crossly brushing himself off.

"It's fine, man really," Cisco sighed, "No harm done."

He spread his arms out to show the pedestrian that he was completely unharmed.

"Except to my foot," Barry complained glancing down at his sneakers which despite being new were already worn out.

But Kara could sense he was joking and suppressed a smile. To be on the safe side however, she tilted her glasses causally down her nose and quickly scanned his foot with X-Ray vision; the scan came out normal.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad son," the man said with genuine concern to Barry's statement. However, he said this while looking down at his feet so that his voice sounded muffled and low. His behavior was struck Kara as odd, but she decided to hold her observations until later.

The speedster shook his head while a hesitant smile was crossing his face, "Nah. I'm just joking. I'm fine really."

"Comparative to other times you got hurt...yes...I'd say you're okay," Cisco muttered.

Oliver elbowed him in the ribs silencing him instantly. The speedster shot him his version of a death glare before crossing his arms and spreading his lanky legs apart so it looked like he was more secure but casual.

"Well...I hope you 're enjoying the city," the man said with a curt nod apparently not hearing Cisco's statement or Barry's warning look, before crossing his arms with a slight smile, "Ah...where are you from? I really cannot place your accents."

Kara caught a glimpse of Barry's concerned look for a split second, as it only lasted that length of time. Quickly she glanced in the direction the speedster was looking and she spotted Oliver with his hand halfway in the bag containing his bow. She cleared her throat to stop her friend and said, "Missouri."

Oliver visibly relaxed and retracted his hand before stuffing it in his jacket pocket. He still regarded the pedestrian with suspicion, and there was nothing Kara could do about that. There was slight rumble and the ground shook slightly. It felt like a miniature earthquake. Kara glanced at her friends to see if they had noticed anything, but only saw Barry glance in confusion her way. His shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Huh..." the pedestrian's brow furrowed for a moment and looked at them for the first time since he had started speaking, "I've never heard of anyone from Missouri coming up here. Then again...New York gets plenty of visitors. See you around."

He walked away waving as he did. Kara watched as he disappeared into the crowd and let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had at least prevented someone from being skewered.

"He was...interesting," she commented hesitantly.

"Strange barely describes it," Barry muttered under his breath.

"You'd think that he's never seen people from around the world visit this city. I think New York gets approximately fifty-two point seven million visitors a year," Cisco shrugged when he saw their looks before continuing in a sort of whiney voice, "What? I got bored. Wikipedia was calling my name."

Kara snorted and they continued walking down the sidewalk this time being watchful of pedestrians. She knew that the next person to ask them where they were from might cause a scene.

"Isn't that roughly..." Barry paused for a moment, "One hundred forty two thousand, four hundred sixty six people a day?"

"Great...I just _had_ to get stuck with the geek squad," Oliver grumbled under his breath.

"How?" Kara asked ignoring the archer.

"Its nothing...really. Its just...I can calculate high sums in my head," Barry answered uncomfortably with a sigh, "Not something I like to brag about..."

He trailed off and looked at the ground between his feet. Two spots of crimson had stained his cheeks which usually happened when he was embarrassed. Kara understood and decided to stop asking him questions. She dejectly walked forwards. Cisco had stated that his vibe glasses would need fixing. Who knew how their teammates were reacting right now.

Her arm started itching again and in order to relieve the skin irritation, the Kryptonian slipped her hand under her sleeve to scratch the area. Unnoticed, a piece of metal the size of a dime scabbed off and fell to the ground with a muffled clink. It was glowing a faint red color before being crushed underfoot by a pedestrian, spilling out a sulfurous liquid that was quickly evaporated by the sun.

* * *

 _Earth Prime: Location Team Arrows Base of Operations_

 _19:00 hours_

"This is bad...this is really, really bad."

Catlin never thought she'd see Felicity freak out but that was exactly what her friend was doing. Her friend had gone completely off her rocker. Papers littered the ground everywhere; scattered by the breeze caused back her pacing. The monitors had dozens of search webs up, all scanning for their missing teammates. Rory was perched on the handles around the computers. His arms were folded neatly on the top of the railing and he rested his head between them. He was still dressed in the rags that gave him his abilities, though he had removed them from his face and it had been roughly a day since their teammates' disappearances.

Perhaps he was feeling anxious as well, because several tendrils of rag snaked off his arms and were randomly doing things. Some kept picking up the papers on the ground. Others were wrapping themselves around Curtis's legs—the later of which kept trying to push them off. And a few just limply hung at Rory's sides, fluttering every once and a while.

Rene appeared out of nowhere and slammed his fist against one of the pillars. The concrete cracked slightly, and blood pooled out from the torn skin of his knuckles. He didn't seem to notice or care about the pain.

"They still have to be out there!" he shouted, "They can't be dead. They are still out there. And to think we abandoned them!"

"Rene," Catlin said softly, "I am sorry. There is no way they could have survived the explosion. Even Supergirl wouldn't have...there were traces of some...unknown element in it that...could potentially degrade her cellular structure."

He turned to her. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Thea sat in the corner silently. Since Oliver's disappearance, the young woman had not said a word though she had cried. She kept un-stringing and re-stringing her bow string. Her quiver of arrows spilled out next to her feet but she apparently did not notice. Her face suddenly hardened and her tightened her grip around the string so hard that it cut deep into her leather glove; marking the skin underneath with a red grove.

"Whose going to tell the city the mayor is dead?" she asked quietly, "Or Barry's family. Or Kara's friends?"

No one had an answer for her. Curtis shifted in his uneasy seat next to Rory before standing up. He wandered over to the computers and examined its screen quietly. He bowed his head and asked, "How well does this algorithm measure vitals?"

"Pretty well," Catlin shrugged, "Cisco designed it."

She trailed off feeling miserable about a co-worker she had known for so long was gone. Her fingers began steaming in response to her jumbled feeling making her realize that one of the bracelets she wore had slipped off. She jerked her arm back, but not before a thin layer of ice spread across the worktable. The power repressors were doing their job holding back her...icy side, but the ice could appear at random if she did not concentrate. Or as Cisco put it...she was holding back her evil Elsa.

Breathing slowly through her mouth, Catlin picked up the bracelet and pulled it on. Instantly, her fingers turned back to a normal pink and warm coloration, instead of an icy white color.

"Well," Curtis continued uncomfortably, "Wouldn't it tell us if they were dead? I mean...all its showing us right now is that the connection was severed. Which could only happen when—"

"They were transported suddenly," Felicity sat up suddenly, her eyes glimmering with hope, "Which means they can still be alive."

"And if we can back trace the last ping they gave off," Curtis added.

"We can find out where they went!" Felicity sprang up and dashed over to one of the computers at a speed that would have impressed Barry.

She started typing frantically, different serves and screens flying across her screen. Rory looked up and glanced over her shoulder. He didn't say anything, but Catlin could see all the tension disappear from his shoulders. She swallowed nervously and rested her hand gently on his shoulder. He glanced back at her with a faint smile and grateful look which she returned.

"I'm going to call the others," she said carefully, "Joe and Iris. It would be best if they only knew about this. Wally...well...he would probably do something rash."

"Whose Wally?" Felicity asked without taking her eyes off the computer.

"Iris's brother," the bioengineer shrugged slightly, "He's got speed powers like Barry. Unfortunatly, Barry stated that he though it would be best for Wally to sit the robot attack out, and he preferred him to start with small crimes first. Wally...was not really happy with that, so Iris managed to talk him out of it. I hate to see what he would do if he knew Barry went...missing."

"So you have like 'Kid Flash'," Curtis asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That's what we call him," Catlin shrugged, "He complains about it."

"How much?"

Catlin though back to the number of times Wally complained about the nickname; so much that the team started keeping score, "Too much." She leaned against the table and squinted up at the overhead lights as her thoughts wandered over to the others in Central City. How was Joe going to take it when she told him? Almost as if the universe hated her, her phone rang. Wincing, she withdrew it from her purse and looked at the caller I.D. hoping secretly that it would be a solicitor, or even her cousin.

She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes for a split second before answering the phone, "Hey...Joe. I need to tell you something...its about Barry. No...he's fine...its just..."

The bioengineer looked over a Felicity who shook her head warningly. Catlin took a deep breath before continuing, "He...and Cisco...they're missing."

* * *

 **Don't worry. Future chapters I will have Joe, Iris, and Wally make an appearance as well as a POV. However, it will be mostly from people like Felicity, the Recruits, and Catlin for a while.**

 **Busiek Internet Café is named after Kurt Busiek who was the writer for one of the DC/Marvel Crossover comics: JLA/Avengers. Out of respect for the people who made some of the crossovers possible I decided to create a café named after one of them.**

 **Also the time periods _are_ the same for all three earths: Earth Prime (Oliver and Barry's earth), Earth-38 (Supergirl), and Earth Unknown (Avengers; I will come up with a name eventually). **

**See you guys next time!**

 **~Sil**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. Decided to do something new with the opening of this chapter! Sorry I took so long to update. I had no computer access for a couple of days.**

 ** _Italics_** **are used for sound effects, emphasis, different language and comn systems/electronic voices. In Tony's case when italics are not used when he speaking, either means his face plate is up, or the scene is of inside his helmet. Hope this helps!**

 **Shout outs**

 **Tenza** — **Yes...Barry _can_ read at super speed. Later on I will reveal why he didn't state that he recognized Cap. Yes they know about the other Avengers but since one of them...cough...attacked Kara they mostly wanted to focus on that said person. Thank you for the continued support! And I like the number for the earth you gave me :) However I have a few suggestions listed at the end of the chapter if you would like to check it out!**

 **Crystal—Thank you. Soon you will find out what the device was :)**

 **Hari** **—XD Yes Steve totally did. Boy is he going to feel foolish about it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing; DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel characters belong to Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth 38: Location—DEO_

 _08:00 hours_

"Kara, I don't know where you are by J'oon is wondering where you are and just please call me back."

Winn watched as Alex bit her lip and set her phone down before slipping it into her pocket. It had been the fifth time since she had called her 'sister'. He slowly turned his seat around to stare at the computer; chewing the bottom of his lip. It had been roughly a day and a half since Kara had gone missing. Of course she had told him what she was going to do as well as James; both of whom were sworn to secrecy. He was a bit bummed that he hadn't been included in the last team up with Barry and several of his super friends. And the fact that his buddy from an alternate earth didn't bother to drop in and tell him he was in town. Then again, according to Kara, the speedster did not have time to stop by to say hi and introduce anyone with aliens invading his earth and all.

And then came Kara getting ticked at him—something he _never_ wished to see again as she was scary when she was mad—when he took that inter-dimensional extrapolator and fiddled around with it. He only had a chance to figure out about half of it before she had taken it back and hid it from his sight. Though she had explained only part of its functionality, it did made up for her abandoning him in the boring D.E.O IT department for three days.

But it still was a bit disappointing that he hadn't been included this time either. Come on...fighting giant robots was the _ultimate_ Star Wars nerd dream. He slowly counted to ten before peering back cautiously, faking that he was stretching. Alex was still there, only this time she was eyeing him with the ultimate agent glare. Quickly Winn dropped his hands to his sides and stared at the computer screen intently even though the dull and boring home screen was on. He was itching to turn around to see if she was still staring at him, but knew better than to. Alex had a knack of knowing when someone was hiding something. Unfortunately, he was not really good at masking his expressions.

"Mr. Schott!"

Winn yelped and leapt straight out of his chair sending papers on his desk to the ground; every single hair on his body standing erect as goose bumps shivered up and down his skin. Nervously he turned to look up at his boss who was standing on the balcony of the second floor. Director Henshaw aka. J'onn J'onzz. Winn kept trying to keep a smile on his face and the sweat from beading on his brow praying he wouldn't fail miserably at it. The Martin glared down at him and crossed his arms, "Those case files aren't going to sort themselves. Thomas is out sick today so you'll have to do it."

"Y-y-yes sir," Winn gave a mock salute and practically withered into his chair. J'onn merely rolled his eyes in response before stalking off to assist a technician who had managed to have a shelf topple over on him. Effortlessly, the Martian balanced the self so that it became level before helping the man over to the med bay to have his arm looked at.

Quickly, Winn started typing up an algorithm that would sort through the files quicker and easier. For fun, he added a worm or two to prevent Cadmus's computers from hacking into their system in the future. Before he could hit the button 'complete', he felt a hand weigh down the chair and someone breathing down his neck. Twisting his neck, he looked in Alex's eyes and she did not look happy.

"Winn..." she started to say drumming her fingers on the back of the chair.

"What?" he stammered nervously running his hand through his hair, "I'ma uh...not doing anything bad."

She crossed her arms and leaned down so she could glare daggers into both his eyes, "You know where Kara is, don't you?"

He couldn't help but lean away from her nearly toppling out of the chair in the process as the furniature creaked and groaned closer to the ground; balancing on two wheels on the roll-a-round.

"N-n-no."

Alex sighed and straightened up. Her right hand rested on the holstered gun on her hip a little too close for Winn's comfort, "Winn Schott. I know of at least five ways to make you start talking right now" she straightened his chair up with her foot so all four wheels were resting on the floor,"and _all_ of them are painful."

"Alright! Alright!" Winn threw his hands up in surrender trying not to sweat, "She's uh...with a friend."

"A friend?" Alex's voice was cold

"Um yeah. And she told she'd be back in a few days time...heh," Winn managed to give her a weak smile, "And err...not to worry."

At first it didn't look as if the agent would believe him. But to his surprise, she shrugged and said, "Fine. Guess Kara will have to tell me herself when she gets back. So help me you lied to me Winn." She stalked off, several agents and doctors giving her a wide berth. Some glanced after her before looking back at Winn who waved nervously

He let out his breath and turned back to his computer, almost nearly jumping out of his skin again. Mon El/Mike sat on the edge of the table with his arms crossed. His eyebrow was raised but surprisingly the Daxamite did not even remotely mad. Instead he looked curious.

"A friend?" he asked tapping the fingers of his right hand on his left arm, "Kara never mentioned having any other friends besides you Winn. And Jim Olsen" He glanced at the wide space Alex had left behind and commented, "She doesn't look happy."

Winn let his breath out before typing forcefully on the keys of his keyboard, "Yeah. Kara has some friends. She helps them sometimes and they return the favor. One doesn't visit often and when he does he _forgets_ about his other friends on this earth."

"This earth?"

The former cursed himself mentally before saying out loud, "I mean earth. Good old earth. Gosh, I think I've been learning too much of your bad habit with speaking English. By the way you don't always have to say someone's name at the end of a sentence."

Mon El looked embarrassed, "Sorry."

"Nah," Winn clapped him on the shoulder, "Its okay buddy. Hey. Want to go play pool later with James and me? Promise me this time you won't break the guy's arm."

The Daximite looked troubled but managed to smile and walk off. After making sure he was gone and no one was around to watch him, Winn started typing something into the computer, trying to access the file that stored the information he had stored about the inter-dimensional extrapolator. He wished there was some way to connect to her and Barry, but she had yet to give him the information about how the device worked. All she said some guy named Cisco created it and she didn't know much about it. Aliens attacking, robberies, and trying to keep James's secret kept getting in the way of him asking her more about the machine.

"Kara," he muttered as he watched the computer search for the file, "Where are you?"

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location—Ritz Carlton_

19:00 hours

"And we are suppose to stay here...for how long exactly?" Barry asked wearily; his voice faint.

Cisco couldn't help but agree with his friend. After searching for several hours, they had finally found a place to stay. The hotel room they had rented cost a ridiculous price and it only had two beds. It was set up much like an apartment with enough room to park a compact car in the middle of the main room. The view they had was pleasant enough, but it did not help that they were paying for this room with a credit card.

Fortunately, the clerk had accepted it. How and where the credit went, Cisco had no idea. Did it somehow go to a barren bank account and worked the way usual credit cards did? Or did it somehow travel through the multiverse and go to Oliver's credit system? He decided to spare himself the headache and not think about it.

But...it was way better than the place they had stayed the first night they had arrived.

Oliver regarded Barry with a stony look before replying, "As long as we need to. Unless we figure out a way to find a way home...or ask these... _heroes_ for help...we are staying here."

A breeze blew through the open window. The night was pleasant and cool even though it was not silent, with the sounds of traffic in the background; along with several sirens. Cisco saw Barry look longingly into out the window but the speedster did not move from his awkward position.

Kara walked around the apartment looking at everything carefully. She sat down on the couch.

"Whose going to sleep on the couch?" she asked, "We only have two beds and its...pretty awkward considering the imbalance we have in our group."

Her face turned bright red from embarrassment before she stood up and walked over to stand by the side of the couch. She fingered the pillows gently.

"I call the bed," Cisco yelped.

He grinned sheepishly when his friends looked at him. Barry looked slightly amused, Kara was smiling slightly, and Oliver...well...he was scowling. Then again he usually scowled most of the time so it came as no surprise. Damn...but Kara's smile was so nice...he really liked it when she—

"I'll sleep on the floor," Oliver said gruffly breaking through Cisco's train of thought, "It won't bother me...I was stuck on an island for five years. First time I slept in my bed I felt like I was sinking though it to the floor."

He tossed his carry-on bag on the ground where it landed with a loud thump. Cisco figured it would not make their neighbors happy. As he watched the archer unzipped the bag, and took his bow out. Oliver glanced at it for a moment before tossing it a few inches in the air and spinning it before catching it. He stuffed it back into storage.

"I guess I'll take the couch," Barry sighed though he did not sound or look happy about it, "The last time I did this I was sixteen. And that was because I was sleeping over with a friend."

He set his backpack down on the couch and practically collapsed with a glum expression on his face. Leaning back, he swung his feet back and forth like a little kid as he stared up at the ceiling. Cisco figured he was calculating several different things in his head by the look on his face. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously. Barry's incredible speed also applied to his mind which meant he could figure out Einstein's Theory of Relativity and learn Calculus in the amount of time it took to order a smoothie.

Cisco plopped himself into one of the chair surrounding the dinner table and rested one of his legs onto another chair. He saw Kara glaring at him and he said, "What?"

"Nothing. I'm going to wash my hair," was all she said before disappearing into one of the bedrooms. Her voice continued out of it, "Its caked with dirt and concrete from last night."

The door slammed shut with a bang. Cisco grinned slightly before looking at his friends. Barry still had his head back on the couch but now his eyes were closed. His feet had stopped swinging and the former could hear him snoring slightly. Poor guy had passed out.

Cisco turned his attention to Oliver who was seated in the middle of the room with his legs crossed; his hands in his lap and his bag within reach. He had taken off his shirt, exposing his many pale, ragged scars and a tattoo on his chest and side. His eyes were closed and it appeared as if he were asleep.

The tech expert opened the backpack laying next to him and carefully removed its contents. His gauntlets rested on the table with a muffled 'chink'. He didn't have to worry about them that much. The wiring was fine and the central cooling system had not overheated the part that magnified his sonic blasts—but he no doubt would be able to use them more than a few times before they _did_ overheat. Turning his attention from that particular piece of gear, he picked up his goggles and switched it on to examine the extent of damage.

One of the lenses was still cracked, and the light behind it had been shattered. The other lens flickered weakly, giving the gear the look of part of a cyborg. Cisco slipped a fine Phillips head screw driver out from his sleeve and started tinkering with it. Until he fixed the goggles, he would be unable to concentrate his vibes and open a dimensional breech that could bring them back home.

After about five minutes, he banged his hands down in frustration. The wiring was an absolute mess and the monitor that analyzed different dimensional wave lengths had been jammed. Until he bought replacement parts and other tech, the goggles could be as useful as a high tech form of sunglasses. With a growl of annoyance, he careful wrapped the glasses in a piece of cloth before placing it back into his backpack.

Cisco got to his feet and started to silently approach Oliver, not at all sure what he was doing. Perhaps the man's ability to be able to not lose his temper—fully; most of the time it was partially—made him want to turn to him for support.

He had barely gone two feet when Oliver growled without opening his eyes,"Tip me over and that's the last thing you'll ever do."

"Wasn't going to," Cisco sighed as he awkwardly sat down next to him, "Just never took you for the meditating type."

"I'm not," the archer huffed cracking his right eye open to regard him, "I'm just trying to clear my mind right now. I don't exactly have a punching bag or a salmon ladder to use."

"You know there is a giant gym on the first floor right?" Cisco cracked a smile, "You would totally dominate it."

"And have a bunch of people ask me about the scars that cover my body?" Oliver closed his eye, "If one of them recognizes the Bravata tattoo..."

"Got it," the former said, "No doubt you'll take out the first guy who mentioned it. And you're not really keen on sharing things."

The archer had a faint smile on his face for a split second. He went back to frowning immediately after it.

"I take it repairs aren't going well?" he asked.

"No," Cisco replied glumly.

"I could tell," the archer admitted, "I heard your frustration even from over here."

He was quiet for moment, "Why won't you get some food? Or maybe Kara will be willing."

"I'll get it," Cisco cast a sideways glance at Barry who was still out of it, "Chinese or pizza?"

He wished that his friend was still awake. The speedster made one hell of a delivery guy. If he did not need to keep a secret identity he would make serious cash working for a pizza delivery joint.

"Chinese," Oliver answered opening both his eyes and started tugging his shirt back on, "I'll go with you."

The casual statement sent another message. One that Cisco interpreted very well: _I better go with you so you don't cause trouble or don't run into trouble_. He decided to be grateful and honored, considering that Oliver spent most of the time they teamed up ignoring his statements or getting annoyed with them. The archer stood up, stretched, and bent down to pick up his carry on bag.

"Chinese it is," Cisco swallowed and tried to smile.

"Egg rolls?" Kara's head poked around the corner of the door her hair dripping, "Not sure what Barry wants..."

As if he had heard his name, Barry turned towards her and muttered something before drifting back to sleep. His breathing became even and he had stopped snoring.

"I think I can handle it," Cisco grumbled picking his jacket up and opening the door to the hallway, "He eats almost anything high in calorie count."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location—Avengers Tower_

 _19:30 hours_

"So you went to investigate the origin of the mysterious energy signature and you found nothing?" Natasha plunked her metal water bottle down on the table and tossed her curly red hair behind her shoulders, "And you didn't bother waiting for us to come provide backup? What if that woman came back? It would have been a repeat of last night based off what Clint told me."

She, Steve, Wanda, Tony, and Clint were seated on an office table that Tony had bought for meetings. Rhodes and Vision had been unable to attend as they were dealing with some type of minor threat in Florida. It had been several hours since the Cap, Tony, and Clint had investigated enough to bring back limited information. Outside of the wide panned windows, the sun was already below the horizon.

This was the fourth time that four of the original founding members of the Avengers were using the table since...well...Clint forgot. A bowl of jelly beans lay in the middle of the table and really looked out of place with Natasha's stingers laying next to them. If she reached in that direction it would be hard to tell what she was grabbing for. The archer tried not to look bored and disinterested as he picked up a rubber band lying on the table. He started threading it between his fingers.

Clint was happy that he had managed to get in touch with Nat after she managed to slip him her contact info after their big fight at the airport months ago. If one person could keep Tony's Starkisms under control...it was her. But unfortunately, she had apparently forgotten that they wanted to keep the news of their team getting back together off the radar of a certain general. Not to mention the whole public.

"Hey!" Tony protested, "I had no clue what we would run into. I didn't call you originally because I thought I could handle it. Just now I thought I could handle it again if I ran into her again."—he turned and glared at the archer—"And thanks so much Clint for telling her after we discussed _not_ talking about it."

Clearly he had forgotten that he had two other people with him. Also fortunately...the whole discussion that they had on " _the others better not find out about this energy signature origin_ " was suppose to be a secret. Yet another thing the archer had to add to the list of things he did _not_ miss and did not want to encourage.

"I don't keep secrets from my friends," Clint growled as he pulled a rubber band back along his index finger before a smirk appeared on his face, "And _sure_...you could have handled the situation after what happened to you last night. Its a miracle that New York has not blown up yet with you being the protector and all except for that web-headed teenager."

He looked down the length of the loaded springboard and squinted one of his eyes shut. He eyed his target before releasing. The projectile flew down its path and bounced off the far off wall, before striking one of the windows. It ricochet off Wanda's arm which was resting on the table, before it smacked into Tony's helmet or more specifically his nose. The rubber band bounced onto the table before dropping to the ground. The genius shot a glare at the archer who bluntly ignored him.

"Maybe technology glitched," Wanda said carefully in her thick Sokovian accent. She bent down and picked up the rubber band. Red light flickered between her fingers and the object started to levitate. It glowed a faint red color as she made it float towards Clint and come to a rest in his hand. He gave her a faint smile and started stretching and compressing the rubber between his index finger and thumb.

"The genius already claimed it didn't," the archer stated as he continued to manipulate the rubber band.

He spotted a paperclip on the table and snatched it up. One of the advantages of the table not being used often was it became a rest-stop for various pieces of offices tools; which could provide rare entertainment value if used correctly and wisely.

"And the genius has ears you know," Tony grumbled rubbing the swore spot on his nose before grabbing a handful of jellybeans from the bowl.

Steve who had been sitting quietly since the meeting started tapping his fingers on the desk. He didn't say anything until the tension in the room had lessened. Only then did he lean forward with his hand touching his chin thoughtfully.

"Perhaps your tech glitched," he said.

When Tony started to protest, Cap held his hand up to stop him. Clint suppressed a smirk as he bent the paperclip into a shape of a bow. It amazed him how Steve was and still able to silence Tony occasionally without uttering a word.

"Perhaps it did not," the super soldier continued in his slow and thoughtful way, "We don't know. Perhaps it was an error with the system. Perhaps"—his fingers started tapping on the table again—"it _was_ something."

Cap's finger was repeating a constant pattern with pauses in-between so Clint guessed it was Morse Code. For what? He had no idea and quite frankly at the moment, he did not care.; he had more important things to worry about. He loaded the rubber band into his office desk tool which had been made into a 'weapon'. He considered using a pushpin to make the 'bow' look cooler but decided it would weigh it down and shorten the distance the rubber band went as well as the force behind its trajectory.

"Enough rubbing in my errors Cap," Tony interrupted with a whine, "Bad enough I had to hear it from—wait what did you say?"

He suddenly shoved the handful of jellybeans in his mouth and began to chew. His face became smeared with a rainbow of colors before he wiped it away with his armored sleeve. Yet another thing Clint didn't miss: Tony's terrible table manners when it came to snacks. It probably would not do any good to his circuits in his armor.

"If you were not busy complaining," Wanda said casting an uncertain glance at Clint who gave her a faint smile, "You would have heard him say that...your shiny replacement suit or whatever you call it might have picked up something."

She gave the new suit a look of some disgust before wrinkling her nose up as if she had smelled something foul. Clint suppressed a snicker and pulled the rubber band back on the makeshift bow holding the improvised spit wad he had made when no none was looking. He was grateful that even though Wanda knew what he was planning, was choosing to keep quiet about it. No doubt she wanted some form of amusement which was hard to get at a meeting especially ones like the one they were in.

"Its called the Mark XLVII. A modified version of the one that got trashed," Tony corrected scratching his beard, "And care to elaborate Cap?"

Clint made the rubber band zing the scrap of paper off his friend's helmet. Tony slammed his hand down on the desk and barked, "Damn it Clint! How can I think when you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" the archer asked innocently hiding the paperclip behind his back.

He winked at Wanda who smiled and lowered her head to hide it. Tony rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air to show his exasperation. Even Natasha smiled but her eyes seemed to looking in the distance as she thought about something.

"As I was saying," Steve picked up his conversation as if it had never been interrupted, "Perhaps you _did_ pick up something on the energy detector. But then you said it disappeared."

"I said that a thousand times," Tony said stiffly with a sniff even though he had only said it once maybe twice, "Go on."

"Maybe..." Steve continued patiently, "Whatever it was...managed to mask it energy signature. And energy can only be suppressed for a short amount of time before it comes back much stronger than—"

He was interrupted by a loud beeping noise. Red lights started pulsating bathing the room in an eerie vertigo inducing illusion. Clint almost tumbled out of his chair, slightly startled. He cast a glare at Tony who looked at him equally as annoyed, "What!? I didn't do anything."

" _Sir..._ ," F.R.I.D.A.Y.S voice came over the intercom, " _As much as it thrills me that the team is back together...this might put a damper on your spirits._ _Energy signature was detected about three miles from here. I suggest if you start moving right now you will be able to intercept those responsible for it_."

"You heard the A.I," Tony scrambled to his feet and his face mask clanked down, "Avengers Assemble!"

He was met with stares and arched eyebrows. Wanda looked confused and Steve looked amused/sad, while Natasha's face expressed no emotion at all. She shrugged and causally reached across the table to strap her 'stingers' on after grabbing a single red jellybean from the bowl.

"We're already here," Clint grumbled seeing their gaze on him, "Sheesh. Let me go get my bow."

* * *

 _Earth Prime: Location—The Packard Factory (abandoned)_

 _23:00 hours_

It was a quiet night in Detroit. Almost every single person was asleep and those who weren't were going about their own business. A faint form flickered on the top of a building, silhouetted by the full moon. The person disappeared rather quickly, the young protector of the city dealing with assignments of her own.

If only she had turned her attention to the structure at the end of the city. Where there was a bigger problem then the three men holding up an innocent pedestrian.

"So they know nothing of it?"

A low silky voice droned out of the shadows of the abandoned automobile construction building. Shafts of moonlight shined through the roof illuminating the floor with a silvery glow. It was hard to see, and the three people standing within the darkness could barely make out each other shapes.

"No," another man responded practically sneering as he did so, "They do not yet know of what happened to their three pervious _heroes_."

His voice sound deep and resounding, as if he had been speaking through the bottom of a hollow drum. There was a faint thrumming sound emanating from his corner, almost as if the ground around him was vibrating like a gong.

"Then the Cube did its job," the first speaker commented, "Pity though it didn't irradiate them completely. I would have relished seeing them burn so they would not be able to come back."

"At least it gave us an edge against the Kryptonian," a third speaker interjected, this one with a voice of a woman, "The Girl of Steel was no match for otherworldly magic."

Her voice sounded authoritative and smug. A cockroach crawled in front of her and quickly smashed by the woman's foot. Or so it seemed, for when the woman withdrew her foot, the creature staggered off into a crack; its antennas all crocked and one of its legs gone.

"But the threat is not over," the second voice hissed, "They were transported to another earth. Your earth I presume _Aurora_ _Ruber_."

A low chuckling emanated from the first speaker's corner, "How quaint you give me that name Time Traveler. I have yet to understand how you traveled to find me and propose such interesting... _plans_."

The time traveler smirked, "You will not be able comprehend the idea of how. I however will not be able to remain here. I have to deal with some... _friends_ from the past. And I will have to return the lady to her cell before she is found missing from it. You sure you will be able to survive on your own?"

A snarl came from the other's corner, "Do not test me Thawne. You are lucky you were able to make me listen to your proposal and not kill you."

"Doubt it," the evil speedster smirked, "You'll be dead before you even took a single step."

The woman now spoke, "What of the heroes on your earth _Aurora Ruber_? The Avengers was it?"

She knew of the danger to come after saying that name, but did not appear to care.

"Yes," Aurora Ruber growled in a voice that sounded barely human, " _Them_. Its a pity though...they will be too busy tearing at each others throats while we finish putting our plan into action."

"And when the dust clears," Thawne continued.

"There will be no left to interfere with your plans," the woman finished before both she and the speedster spoke in unison, "You either fail...or you die."

A faint shock of red electricity appeared and the mysterious group vanished, leaving behind echoes of hate and swirls of dust that quickly covered their tracks. The lights from a passing car illuminated the walls of the factory. Scratched into them were four words:

 _Divided, Conquer, Connect, Raze._

* * *

 **I know...I know. They never said that famous catch phrase in the movies. But I wanted to put it here...since it deserves to be used.**

 **And on a plus side we were introduced to our three big bads. However one of them is be the main villain but it will be a while before I formally tell you who it is.**

 **In the mean time...have fun guessing! And please...do not put the guess you have in the comments as it will ruin the answer for others. Thanks!**

 **Now for something less serious. I am debating on what number earth I should give the Avengers. Should I named it Earth-1963 (after the year the first Avenger comic came out) or Earth-2012 (year the movie came out)?**

 **Or suggested by PhantomWorks- Stories division: Earth 19999 (official MCU)**

 **Feel free and give me your input!**

 **Also**

 **R.I.P**

 **Carrie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds **

**~Sil**


	5. Chapter 5

**I really feel bad for Oliver in this chapter XD Guy can't seem to catch a break. First getting stranded on an island, then nearly dying half a dozen times, having his friend zapped by lightning and waking up with super speed, then more Metahumans, magic, aliens, and now multiverse earths. I think even the toughest person would go crazy and be unnerved.**

 **Please enjoy.**

 **Oh and the earth number has been decided. However, I will not reveal it until later.**

 **Shout Outs**

 **Crystal** — **Things are heating up :) Thank you for your continued support!**

 **tenza** — **I cannot tell you who the leader is. That will totally ruin the big reveal in future chapters. Yeah...he is a bit of a jerk though. You will see what will happen with Oliver/Cisco and the food. And you are doing a great job with English if you are just learning it. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel characters belong to Stan Lee and Marvel Comics.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_— _Unknown_

 _19:45 hours_

Oliver thought he had seen everything. He'd seen his supposedly dead friend Ray shrink to the size of a marshmallow. He'd seen Sara brought back to life and have her soul 'restituted' by a rather annoying British guy who smoked like a Freight Train (and claimed he was on the side of angels). He'd even seen his mother killed in front of him by Slade and found out that Malcolm Merlin was the Dark Archer. And he was abducted, and punched an alien in the face.

But nothing could prepare him for seeing a man dressed completely in a gold and red suit of armor blast over his head like a miniature jumbo jet.

The man landed and pedestrians scattered to allow him room. Muttering started up as people watched the man. Oliver heard one name being repeated over and over: _Iron Man_. He eyed 'Iron Man' cautiously and tried to make his facial muscles show anything but suspicion and worry. His armor looked similar to Ray Palmer's but had a different color scheme and looked a bit more high-tech than his friend's. It didn't appear to have any dents or scratches; no indication of the brutal beating that Kara claimed to have given the armor. It was pretty obvious the man had fixed or replaced his suit.

Cisco was completely oblivious to what was happening. He muttered something incoherent and started rustling around in the take out bag. He pulled out a fortune cookie which he opened and started to eat while suddenly spotting the armored man with wide eyes. Fortunately he kept quiet, but as experience spoke the silence would not be long.

Oliver ignored him and his awed expression. He gently tugged Cisco along with him as he maneuvered around people to get a better look at the armored man; his friend quietly complied. The archer warily kept his distance however, pushing back against the crowd and allowed people to get in front of him; he did not know who or what this guy was despite reading many articles about his... _heroics_. News paper articles did not fully describe how a person's personality was in different situations. One thing he did know was...that the crowd was showing no favoritism towards him and for good reason based on what he had read about the billionaire. Iron Man did not noticed anything unusual about Oliver's actions or appear worried about the crowd. He glanced down at his wrist as if looking at his watch...but he had none.

" _Friday_ ," a slightly annoyed man's voice came out of hidden speakers sounding slightly mechanical, " _Scan."_

He held his right hand up and a light pulsated in the center of it. He started sweeping the hand back and forth like a metal detector.

Immediately Oliver knew whatever the man was doing spelled trouble. Scan...for what? He grabbed Cisco by the arm and started hauling him forward, away from the metal man. As he ran in the opposite direction of the Iron Man, a woman, and another man arrived on scene; with Oliver taking note of what he had noticed before fleeing. The woman had curly red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. She wore a completely black suit that was finely weaved with Kevlar thread. Two pistols were strapped near her hips and she had two night sticks attached to her back and two bracelet-like devices encircled her wrists. The male newcomer had a bow strapped to his back; another archer. Like his female counterpart his uniform was also Kevlar weaved and had a bit of dark purple mixed in with the black. His arms were bare, no doubt to not impact his shooting time with the extra weight sleeves provided.

Oliver hoped that the large crowds they were running through would stop their possible persuaders. He was grateful that it was nighttime...he always preferred using the dark to his advantage. Even a large city like New York with an area like Manhattan would have plenty of nooks and crannies that would hold darkness anyone could hide in.

Maybe he was a little paranoid considering he had a similar problem in Hong Kong as well as several times in Star City. But if his experiences taught him anything...it was to trust his gut.

At any rate Cisco was not pleased.

"What gives man?" he complained as he was jerked forward by Oliver, "You almost made me spill the Chow Mein."

The archer turned around in time to see Cisco almost spill one of the take out containers. He grabbed the bag before it landed onto the ground, handed it back to his friend and increased his pace without relinquishing his hold. For the first _and_ the last time, Oliver wished he had Barry's speed. It would be easier to loose these people. Cisco started cursing as he was jerked and dragged around several pedestrians who gave them strange looks as they passed by them as well as near misses with several light posts; including a newspaper stand. Oliver suddenly darted into an alleyway and released his grip on his friend. Cisco staggered forward and dropped both take out bags on the ground. He sat down inbetween them which was risky considering the precariously stacked trash bags held such a multitude of flies, that it sounded like a beehive.

"Ok...are you going...to tell me...why...you nearly...jerked my arm...out of its...socket?" he demanded while panting.

"Trouble," Oliver growled dropping his carryon bag on the ground.

The bag popped open allowing his uniform and bow to spill out. He eyed it for a moment before bending down and scooping up the top part of his uniform. He shrugged his shirt off, stuffed it in the bag and tugged his uniform on. Within a few moments he was dressed in a Kevlar laced outfit with combat boots. He swung his quiver onto his back before peering out of the alleyway suspiciously. Carefully he timed the amount of time it would take for their possible pursuers to catch up with them; determining they had about a time span of five minutes.

"Ok..." he switched on his voice filter before turning back to Cisco, " _You. Get back to the hotel. Don't rush...don't act suspicious_."—he picked up the take out bags and his carry on bag before shoving them into Cisco's hands—" _and make sure you are not being followed. Inform the others. I'll try to get back without being followed myself."_

"What?" the other man's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "Are you kidding? I'm staying. I gotta get that man's blueprints for that amazing piece of technology."

Oliver's facial expression must have furious enough for Cisco to pale and mutter, "—Or I could help...or do what you asked me to ,"—seeing his friend's still pissed off look replied—"Ok...ok...I'm going. Just make sure you don't get into trouble."

" _I don't find trouble_ ," the archer nocked an grappling hook arrow and eyed it before putting it back in his quiver, " _Trouble finds us. Now get out of here_."

Cisco nodded so fast it was surprising his head did not fall off. He took off running into the crowd, blending in quickly and was soon gone. Oliver let out his breath slowly before he ran forward. He leapt onto a chain-link fence at the end of the alley and scaled it in a couple seconds. He dropped off onto the other side before darting into another backstreet; keeping to the shadows. Fortunately he had read a map before leaving the hotel so he knew the passages he could take to get back. But he would have to be cautious...he didn't need anyone following him. Already he could hear voices around the corner where he had been previously.

Oliver scrambled up over a low brick wall and jumped onto the fire escape next to it. The rusty metal screeched in protest and he gritted his teeth as the sound grated on his ears. Ignoring the pain of a tweaked muscle in his arm from pulling himself up, he climbed onto the roof of the apartment building and crouched down watching the passageway below him. Oliver drew an arrow from his quiver but did not nock it into his bow. Instead he waited for anything; movement, sound, or even smell. After a few mintues he heard rumbling noise in the distance and the wall below him quivered slightly as if a large object was rolling down the street. The faint shaking startled a group of roosting pigeons which exploded out of their hiding spot.

The hooded man grumbled and swatted away the birds who left behind several feathers but fortunately nothing else equally as nasty. Oliver was not sure what to make of the shaking, and decided he would worry about it later; he had more important things to look for. He did not have to wait long. Within ten minutes someone entered his line of vision. It was the archer. Oliver watched him silently waiting to see if the man had noticed him at all. Quietly and carefully he leaned farther away from the edge of the building, as not to topple over in case he was spotted.

Unfortunatly...the man must have, either by hearing Oliver's breathing or perhaps seeing his crouched form in the shadows. He glanced up and said "Hey you!" before shooting two arrows in his direction. Oliver used his bow to smack them to the side before firing back his own projectiles.

" _See..._ " he thought silently to himself, " _Trouble finds us_."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_— _Unknown_

 _19:45 hours_

Natasha figured Tony would screw up a surprise attack. So she was not totally surprised when the man said, " _The energy signature is moving...away from us. And couldn't you guys have dressed in something...oh I don't know...less noticeable. Don't blame me when Ross comes knocking on our front door_."

Without waiting for a response, he wandered forward and started scanning again. The crowd moved away from him as if his armor had turned red hot. Even after roughly a year had passed, several people hated the Avengers for their role in Sokovia as well as the team splitting up at the airport (there had been rumors that several citizens had literally gotten into fights and split into two different sides; all over who would win the fight: Cap or Tony). It almost made Natasha want to view their society with some disgust. But she had taught herself to ignore almost every insult thrown at her, verbal or not. She eyed the pedestrians calculatingly, reading them and analyzing their body language. They moved back further away from her gaze.

Hopefully this would not reach the local news.

"Maybe if you didn't have to bring the oversize tin can we could have gotten the drop on them," Clint muttered in response to Tony.

He made a causal grab for an arrow in his quiver. Natasha watched his actions out of the corner of her eye, while keeping a close eye on the crowd in case they started to act violent; their team had to deal with two protests in the first three weeks after the Sokovia incident. She didn't know how they would react now. Clint did not take an arrow out but instead fingered the flechings lining the shaft. Anyone who did not know him would think that he was doing it to prepare to shoot. But over the years and every time Natasha partnered up with Clink for a mission, she got better at reading him and his feelings. This particular action let her know that he was nervous. And that surprised her...Clink...Hawkeye...never got nervous. Even staring down an alien invasion and shooting at killer robots, he never even flinched or acted scared.

That alone made a shiver a fear pass through her spine. She scolded herself for feeling that way but had an uncomfortably feeling she was not the only one who had felt that.

Clint dropped and allowed his hand to fall to his side without an arrow in hand. The crowd surrounding them was slowly dispersing except for a few people taking snapshots and videos. Great...so this little scene _was_ going to be on the nightly news. Natasha ignored the civilians—but made a mental note to tell Tony to ask Fury to erase the footage—and finally turned her gaze to the archer.

"You feel it too don't you?" she asked.

He nodded slowly, "Yeah. Like someone walked on my grave."

His hand twitched as if he was going to grab an arrow to shoot that particular disturbance out of thin air. But instead he compressed his bow and slung it across his back without emotion showing on his rugged face. Tony wandered back over to them and popped his face mask up. His face was tight with annoyance and a bit of worry.

"We should split up," he said as if almost to himself, "There were two energy signatures...but one faded almost immediately after it came up."

Natasha and Clint exchanged glances. They did not know whether or not to take Tony's statement seriously or not. If this was another lousy prank he was doing a great job for keeping it up this long.

After working with each other for so long, their facial expressions easily created their own language.

Clint arched an eyebrow while Tony kept complaining to no in particular, " _You think he's lost it Nat?_ "

" _I'm not sure...he hasn't been the same since the Ultron incident or since our team's...fight._ " Natasha frowned, " _If this is all a joke to him I swear I am going to beat the crap out of him the next training session_."

" _That...I'll pay to see,"_ Clint gave her a crooked grin, " _You going to ask him?_ "

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned to Tony who had turned back to them with an expedient look on his face.

"You going to split up or what?" he asked with an annoyed tone.

She gritted her teeth and managed to say, "Yes...we are. Come on Clint."

Without waiting for her friend to respond, she grabbed him by his arm and hauled him down the street. "Ow, ow, ow," Clint muttered as her nails dug into his skin, "Watch it Nat."

She ignored him and the familiar sound of Tony's repulsors blasting off. After walking several paces, Natasha released her friend and looked down the alleyway in front of them. It was completely deserted...or was it? She could have sworn she had seen someone race out of it carrying two take-out bags and something on his back. No...she knew someone had raced out of it before blending into the crowds of people walking the streets. She had seen the man go and his expression was definitely full of fear, worry, and oddly enough some disappointment. She analyzed how tall he was, estimated how old he was, what race he was, and what he was wearing; all a part of her training in the Red Room and S.H.E.I.D. It would not have been the first time a New Yorker had taken an alleyway as a short cut after buying food. However, instinct told her that alleyway was the source of disappearance of the energy signature.

"You go through to the back," she said turning to Clint, "I'll watch the front."

He nodded and with one fluid wave of motion he had nocked an arrow into his bow. The archer kept the tension off the string but had the arrow pointed down at his feet. Cautiously, he entered the alleyway and started to creep down the center, taking care to remain in the shadows. He used every piece of cover: garbage cans, corners, or trash bags that were big enough to provide shelter from prying eyes. Natasha was pleased to see that even with a few months of hiding out in a secluded country/the Safe House (perhaps without practice sessions) under his belt, her friend still had not forgotten his training. She waited until the darkness swallowed him up before moving in herself. A bedragged alley cat scampered away from her yowling when she passed by a row of trashcans. She almost went for her handguns before realizing that it was something smaller than she was and was not a threat. Natasha edged her way to a prime location she had spotted while she waited for her partner to get into position.

She grabbed onto a piece of overhanging pipe and swung herself back and forth. When she had enough momentum, she launched herself towards the fire escape ladder she was aiming for. Her fingers barely scrapped the edge of it but fortunately her vigorous training paid off; it was enough to pull herself up. Natasha crouched down at the top of the overhang. She peered down into the alley with a slight smile on her lips. No wonder Clint preferred being perched up in a high location, it gave him an advantage against his target/enemy.

Natasha let out a low and quiet sigh as she waited for any response from her partner. She also kept an eye out for any trouble herself. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the inky darkness of the alley below her allowing her to see faint smudges of objects. She did not rely on sight alone however. She studied the atmosphere around her. Natasha listened to the sounds of the traffic, crickets, and occasional police siren. She closed her eyes and drowned out all her other senses but her hearing. She listened carefully for any change in the air around her. In the distance, there was a faint rolling sound, almost like a big rig carrying rocks was driving down Main Street. The metal reverberated at her feet but she ignored it: it was probably a heavy vehicle passing by.

She had no idea how long it had been when a dog barked in the distance. She ignored it and almost missed a faint sound far to the right of her. It sounded like someone's foot hitting the concrete below her even though the noise had originated from elsewhere. Natasha's eyes snapped open and she leaned forward. Her breathing sounded loud and labored to her ears and she struggled to keep it steady and even. There was no need to inform whoever was there to her presence. It could not be Clint, he would have told her his position.

A faint smudge of color appeared out of the left corner of her eye at the end of another alley near the roof tops of an apartment. It disappeared quickly and silently. Natasha hopped over the edge of the railing, preformed a backflip in mid-air to lessen the pull of gravity before landing in a crouching position on the ground. She straightened up and started jogging towards the area where the sound and the color originated from.

"Clint?" she gently touched the comn in her ear, "Position?"

" _Sorry Nat..."_ Clint's voice came in and his breathing was sounding hard and labored as if he had been running, " _I sort of...ran into...a little trouble_."

There was a low whistling noise in the background followed by a loud grunt of surprise from the archer. A low metallic clang followed soon after.

"Where are you?" she asked.

" _Next alley way over_ ," he answered before another whistling noise filled her ear.

Natasha could hear other sounds as well; sounds of Clint's bow twanging as he released deadly shafts at whoever was attacking him. With a suddenly realization, she knew that her partner's position was where she had seen the color and heard the sound. She quickened her pace and made sure to keep the comn link open.

"Tony," she said connecting his suit's frequency with her and Clint's coms, "Come in Tony."

She prayed that her friend did not start playing Packman with his suit again. The last time he had done that, he had almost cost her a mission. That was the closest she had come to ever killing her friend. Fortunately for her and Tony, his nose and eye healed up pretty quick.

" _Widow_ ," the millionaire answered almost immediately, " _And here I thought you ditched on me_."

"Not the time Shell Head," Natasha snapped as she splashed through a puddle of water, "Clint needs back up."

She rounded the corner of the alleyway and picked up her pace. Her legs started burning with the effort of keeping a constant pace but she ignored the pain and kept running. As she ran she fired up her wrist blasters. Even though she passed in and out of lighting, she had trained herself on loading them blindfolded. A low humming noise let her know she had succeeded. She quickly grabbed the nightsticks off her back and armed herself with those as well.

" _I'm locking onto his coordinates_ ," Tony said, " _I'll be right there_."

Natasha severed the connection but kept Clint's link on. She kept running and listened for any sound from her friend. "Come on Clint," she muttered as she leapt over a trashcan, "Don't you dare die on me." To her relief she heard Clint's voice come in but he was not talking to her.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_— _Alley Way_

 _20:15 hours_

"Where are you, you son of a bitch?" the archer asked.

Clint was crouching and turning around slowly trying to pinpoint exactly where the arrow had come from. Correction: arrows. They had come out of various directions and there were different time intervals between them, so it was hard to predict their path and place of origin. He had no idea who was shooting them. Whoever it was, he had to admit they had his level of skill...perhaps even better which bothered him.

He only caught fleeting glimpses of the mysterious archer who was most definitely male. The man was wearing some sort of Kevlar weaved outfit of an unknown color allowing the arrows—if any had hit him—to leave behind nasty bruising but no serious damage. Clint had spotted the man on the roof when investigating the alley exit. Upon calling the man out (and perhaps also shooting an arrow or two at him), the unknown archer retaliated by launching an extremely coordinated attack at him. Clint had tried getting onto the same height level as the man but had the ladder shot out from underneath him; literally. At least there was a bag of garbage below to stop his fall, but the sound of impact alone would have woke the dead. And the smell.

He shook his thoughts off and continued to look for the mysterious archer.

A low humming noise flared up behind him and Clint spun around in time to have an arrow slice neatly across his cheekbone before impaling itself into the wall behind him. It quivered slightly much like a coiled doorstop before coming to a standstill. Pain flared up immediately from his wound, but he gritted his teeth in response.

"You don't talk much do you?" he asked resisting the urge to touch the notch in his face.

The man who was standing about ten feet away from him regarded him silently. His bow was still raised but it was not armed. Clint squinted trying to make out the face of the man who so boldly attacked him. But considering a building light was behind him and a hood obscured the man's features, it left a black hole where his face would be. It almost made the creepy vibe coming off him get creepier.

"Who are you?" Clint wondered out loud nocking another arrow.

The archer did not answer but instead uttered a low growl of annoyance in response. Hawkeye shook his head in disbelief before shooting. The hooded man quickly and quietly launched an arrow of his own. Both arrows streaked towards each other and contacted. An explosion lit up the alleyway and Clint was thrown back several feet. His bow went one way and he went the other; rolling on his side over and over before coming to a stop. He instinctively curled up into a ball as the heat singed his skin and his nose was filled with the smell of burning hair. His ears sounded hollow; the exact same feeling he had felt after diving off a diving board the wrong way. He tried inhaling but inhaled pure heat, but only for a split second. The noise and light quickly died down and he sat up groggily. Everything was blurry and he had bad felling he had gone cross eyed.

" _Jerk must have used an explosive arrow_ ," he thought with a wince before uttering a low and _not_ rare obscurity verbally, "Asshole."

His vision came back into focus and he allowed his gaze to wander over to the spot where his attacker had stood. The man was gone. Even the arrows he had shot had somehow disappeared, save for the one that had left its mark on Clint's face. Hawkeye shakily got to his feet and limped over to the arrow forsaking his bow for the moment. He frowned as he lightly fingered the bright green fletchings. Never before had he seen arrows with this particular coloration...or another archer with his skill for that matter. What was going on?

"Clint?"

He turned and saw Natasha standing behind him with a nonplussed look in her eye as she held up his bow. Its string had been partially fused to it as a result of the heat from the explosion. The archer turned back to the arrow that was not his own and yanked it out of the brick wall with a muffled clink. Tony suddenly dropped out of the sky with a clank in front of them blasting their hair back, but at this point Clint was used to surprises so he did not even bother jumping. He watched as his friend lifted the lid—sorry _mask_ —off his helmet. The black eye the archer had given him was still present and Clint resisted the urge to smirk; it would not send a good message given the circumstances.

"What happened to you?" Tony's mouth dropped open into a perfect 'O' as he picked a rotten banana peel off the archer's shoulder, "You look like shit."

Clint had a pretty good idea what he looked like without looking into a mirror. The Iron Man suit was literally one so he looked into that for an image to make sure he was right. His hair had been blown back and his face had the blast radius dusted onto it. He coughed and a wisp of smoke drifted out of his mouth as if he had swallowed a flaming coal. The wound on his cheek was oozing slightly and it stung like a papercut. His uniform was practically ruined; full of rips and peppered with burn marks. His arms were sliced up from the fire escape he fell off and he was pretty sure he had bruised his left arm after getting an arrow blown up in his face.

Yep...definitely what he was expecting.

He scowled as he brushed off the slimy remains of the decomposed fruit, "Thanks for that information. This happened to me."

Clint threw the arrow at his friend, and Tony nearly dropped it upon catching it. The genius scrunched his nose up as he eyed the arrow and examined the flechings; running his armored fingers gently against them. Natasha's eyes widened but she made no comment to what she was thinking.

"New color scheme Clint?" Tony asked eventually with a smirk.

He made no move to return the arrow to the man who had nearly been decapitated with it. Instead, he held onto it and started twirling it between his fingers like a baton.

"No," the archer crossed his arms as he watched the mysterious arrow spin like a spin wheel, his eyes following its movement, "That belonged to man that attacked me."

"He attacked you?" Natasha arched an eyebrow as she carefully handed the bow back to him, "He had to have been crazy to attack you."

With her free hand, she snatched at the arrow stopping is motion in Tony's hands; who uttered a sound of protest when it was its path was abruptly and suddenly stopped.

Clint gave her a long look as he took the bow from her using the arm that didn't feel numb, "Trust me. He was good. I think everyone should hear this."

He scratched the back of his ear and his hand came back with soot. He winced realizing he was going to have to take a shower when he got back to the tower. And find the first aid kit before the wound started healing. He did not want to explain to his wife how he suddenly received a scar on his face even though it might impress his kids.

"Hear what?" Tony laughed putting his hands on his hips before crossing them, "You have a rival?"

"No," Hawkeye shook his head, "That we have a problem."

He cast his gaze upon the arrow which came from an unknown person which was in Tony's hand and thought, " _A big one_."

* * *

 **Hawkeye vs Green Arrow. Or should I say Hawkeye vs Arrowverse Green Arrow. The chances of this actually happening are astronomical but it still doesn't mean we can cross our fingers and hope this happens when the Justice League gets situated on big screen.**

 **And before people kill me... _yes_ Oliver does not know who Clint is as well as Natasha. I shall explain in future chapters. **

**Don't worry though...this will not be the last time our two favorite archers will be facing off. I have more plans for them.**

 **And remember the more reviews...the faster I update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you guys so much for the amount of support the last chapter. I hope you guys like this one! Things are not going well with members of the Arrowverse and the Avengers...**

 **I would also like to explain that I made the dual a _tie_. I got several reviews where people were annoyed that one archer out paced the other and vise versa. So to clear things up...it was a _tie_!**

 **Shout outs**

 **Guest- I am glad you are enjoying this :)**

 **Aya- Of course XD No way am I going to give up on this story!**

 **Tenza- Both of the archers are equally matched. Their first duel is a tie since both managed to injure the other and managed _not_ to kill each other. Oliver managed to escape since he didn't want to hurt Clint. Don't worry though, there will be a rematch! Hawkeye is badass and so is Green Arrow. They are part of my five favorite comic book characters.**

 **BlueBonfire- The Avengers are certainly in for a surprise huh?**

 **Crystal- XD Go ahead and keep score, I don't mind. I consider it a tie but feel free to decide that Oliver won. I think Clint realizes it _was_ in self-defense, but I think he was ticked about how he was beaten so easily X3 **

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel characters belong to Stan Lee/Marvel Comics.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Ritz Carlton_

 _20:55 hours_

The Hooded Archer didn't even bother using the front door. He used the window. Fortunately it was open so at least Barry would not have to explain to the hotel manager how one of his windows became busted up, entrance point via fire escape.

One moment he was scarfing down a box of take out like he was starving (which he was) and then the next a pair of black combat boots pushed through the curtain. He nearly choked until he recognized the green uniform. Oliver landed with a loud thump onto the ground below him and almost had his head taken off by Kara's fist. She corrected her mistakes mere inches from his nose which the archer stared at it unphased.

"Sorry..." she winced before glancing at her hand to make sure she actually hadn't left part of Oliver's face smeared on its surface.

The archer merely grunted and cast his eyes over at Barry, "What are you looking at?"

Barry realized he was staring and averted his gaze. His friend's face was caked in black soot like a rocket had exploded on it and there was a long tear in his Kevlar uniform as well as several holes. Half the arrows in his quiver were missing and there was a burning smell wafting off him. His hair was now an even dirtier blond color and he walked with a slight limp due to a small chunk of his shoe being shot off. Parts of his face were red almost as if he had leaned over a hot stove.

"Cisco told us what happened," Barry managed to swallow the food he had in his mouth, "And um...we were a bit on edge. Guess you ran into whoever was trailing you huh?"

It settled into his stomach like a stone and he struggled to keep the worry from showing on his face. If he appeared worried then the team would likewise follow in suet.

"No," Oliver rolled his eyes as he got to his feet, "They gave up and went home. _OF_ course I ran into them! Why else do I look like this?"

He yanked his mask off and started tugging his suit off; the missing piece of rubber from his shoe dropping onto the ground in front of him. His arms were splashed with black bruises as if projectiles had struck it and his hair was a complete mess though it was cropped short. With a low growl of disgust, Oliver dropped the top part of his suit onto the ground and grabbed a grey T-shirt off the table. He pulled it on and it hid the nasty dark imprints covering his chest but not the ones on his arms; which he crossed against his chest as soon as he was done.

"What happened?" Kara asked patiently and with a level voice.

She sat down in front of Oliver, pushed her glasses down to the tip of her nose, and narrowed her eyes. She was quiet for several seconds before speaking, "Good news...you don't have any broken bones. But you do have a bruised rib. And you smell like you picked a fight with an Infernian."

She pushed the glasses back up to a normal position and blinked a few times.

"I feel it," Oliver grunted rubbing his side, "Hurts but I can bear it."

"Infernian?" Cisco asked with a hint of curiosity in his features.

"Alien species with control over fire," Kara shrugged picking a piece of lint off her skirt, "Hot-headed and really mean."

Barry silently picked up the empty take up carton he had dropped when his friend came through the window. Sticky orange sauce dripped out of the bottom and he cupped his hand to prevent it from landing on the carpet. He didn't want to have to power clean the rug later. The speedster quickly sat down on the couch next to Cisco silently deciding this was much more important and that clean up could wait. There was a bit of awkward silence for several minutes as no one came forward with anything. So quiet that the coo and flapping wings of pigeons spilled into the room.

"So what happened?" Cisco eventually spoke, repeating Kara's statement through a mouthful of Chow Mein, "Cause all I know is...you told me to get the hell out of sight, make sure no one was following me and—"

"Cisco," Barry said quietly instantly silencing his friend.

Oliver sighed deeply and reached into his quiver which was sitting on the ground next to him. He slowly drew an arrow out and laid it on the table in front of them; the light gleaming slightly off its tip. It was not one of his, which could easily be deduce by glancing at it. Barry stuffed the box into the plastic bag it came in, wiped his greasy fingers on a damp cloth before bending over to look at it. He glanced at Oliver who nodded silently. Carefully, Barry used a clean napkin to pick up the arrow since he did not have latex gloves. He didn't know why he was treating it like crime scene evidence, but his friends did not complain about his actions.

"Shaft is made of a mixture of titanium and aluminum," Barry scrutinized the arrowhead, "Head on this is a little wider than yours Oliver. Um...flechings are black. There is a small groove on the top, perhaps the archer's signature or identification for his arrows. And there is something else."

He carefully touched the tip of it. There was some sort of storage chamber below the arrowhead and it was filled with some sort of liquid. Immediately Barry felt woozy and he nearly dropped the arrow with a low groan. He started swaying drunkenly and he almost lost all feeling in his palm. Kara shot her hand out to grasp him but he waved her off before clutching his hand. The odd feeling subsided almost as quickly as it had started up. Wordlessly, Barry placed the arrow onto the table again.

"What was that?" Oliver managed to keep his voice level despite spark of concern in his eyes.

"Tranquilizer hidden in the tip," Barry said rubbing the spot where the tip of the arrow had entered his skin, his rapidly moving cells already staring to repair the damage, "Clever. It would have knocked you out immediately even if it grazed you. Since I'm practically immune to this type of thing it did not affect me...much. You should be grateful that S.T.A.R had your sleeves elongated and intertwined with light Kevlar fabric as well as other material."

Cisco whose face was covered in crumbs and with grease set his chopsticks down, "Whoa...so you were attacked by another archer?"—a wide grin started to stretch across his face and his eyes lit up—"That is so trippy!"

Kara handed him a napkin before turning back to Oliver whose gaze had turned downright murderous, "Who was he?"

The temperature in the room seemed to go up into the triple digits as the archer became even more annoyed. Oliver shrugged, masterfully keeping a ticked off expression on his face, "I don't know. I didn't bother _asking_ for his damn name."

"Well that's encouraging," Barry muttered rubbing the bridge of his nose nervously.

He watched as Kara gently touched the arrow with her index finger. It didn't even pierce her skin. She frowned slightly as if it was bothering her.

"You should get rid of that thing," she said picking it up to examine it closer, "It gives me the creeps. We also don't know if it has a tracking device on it." She paused for minute before saying, "Never mind. It doesn't. I checked...both it and where Barry pricked himself." An uncomfortable silence again fell across the group.

Cisco fidgeted slightly and glanced down at his hands which gleamed with oil from their dinner.

"Maybe I should try vibing it...," he offered, "You know so...we can find out more about them possibly..."

He trailed off before licking his lips nervously. Barry cast a sideways glance at his friend and discovered that they were cracked and bleeding in several places, as if Cisco had been biting them. The speedster quietly glanced down at his feet. He knew that his friend hated using his powers since they could incredibly painful sometimes especially when they were images of people he knew. Cisco took a deep shuttering breath and held his hand out.

"Let me see it," he said giving them a tight smile, "Before I lose my cool..."

Kara cast him a surprised look before the expression softened into sympathy. Without a word, she gently placed the arrow in his outstretched hand. Cisco tightened it into a fist and closed his eyes. Barry watched him anxiously, preparing to offer support if something went wrong. It was pretty quiet...for a short time, but Barry found out later it had been at least two hours before his friend moved. The only sound he could hear that entire time was the ticking of his wristwatch, until his friend finally shifted from his position. Cisco's fist had tightened to the point that his knuckles were a bleach white and the tips of his fingers were red against his skin. His eyes suddenly popped open and he let out his breath as if he had been holding it. Opening his hand, it was discovered that the imprint of the arrow shaft had been pressed into his palm.

"Anything?" Barry asked.

Cisco shook his head and plunked it down on the table, " _Nada_." Nothing.

"Nothing?" Oliver's voice was so quiet that Barry was not even sure he had spoken.

The engineer shook his head, "I couldn't get anything off the arrow. Not even a glimpse of a vibe in my head. Nothing. I...not sure why." He fell quite for a moment as he picked up and dropped the arrow on the table a second time for emphasis, "You should get rid of the stupid thing."

"Not going to happen," this time Barry heard Oliver's voice, loud and clear.

"Why do you want to keep it?" Kara asked cocking her head to the side, "Cisco already said that we cannot get anything off it. And its already served its purpose as a...'knock out arrow'."

"Souvenir," Oliver grunted.

Barry who had been taking a swing of water nearly had it spewed it out of his mouth. He managed to swallow it and wiped his mouth before saying, "I cannot believe those words came out of your mouth."

His friend shot him a dirty look, "You quote me on that with Felicity and I _wil_ _l_ deny it", before picking up the arrow and popping it into his quiver. It looked rather out of place, a spot of black in a sea of bright green. Again...Barry wondered that despite the low supply his friend had, _why_ he was keeping the arrow. It wasn't his...and Barry had to agree with Kara; it made him nervous.

"At any rate," Oliver sighed running his hand through his scruffy half-beard, "I'm nearly out of arrows. Unless you know how to track down someone who can make them...I'm going to have to make do with what I have."

"Say no more," Cisco stood up with a grin and made a mock salute, "Tech genius and amazing inventor working at S.T.A.R Labs reporting for duty."

He looked so ridiculous with his shirt covered in crumbs and machine grease, that Kara and Barry met each other's eyes before bursting out with laughter. It was good to see that he was back to his old self despite the crushing blow they had with failing to find out more about the mysterious archer.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _24:58 hours_

"Ow," Clint muttered.

The disinfectant medicine must have stung like crazy, almost looking like peroxide on an open wound. He tightened his grip on the edge of the examination table that his knuckles cracked from the pressure.

"Sit still," Wanda scolded, "This is only to be placed on flesh wounds _only..._ or at least that is what bottle says."

"Or what?" the archer gave her a perplexed expression, "It'll peel my face away?"

For a moment she thought he was serious until she saw his drunken grin; looking too much like her deceased brother's for comfort. She smacked him on the non-injured shoulder before swabbing at the cut again. Petro was long gone...and she had accepted his death; but images of it always returned before her waking hours. The wound had stopped bleeding and was starting to scab over. With a sad sigh, Wanda set the bottle down with a muffled clunk and looked down at her feet. Clint hopped off the table he was sitting on and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. His left arm was in a small sling; allowing the bruised muscle to heal correctly.

"Sorry kid," he said sheepishly, "I didn't mean to—"

"No," Wanda blurted out suddenly before saying much softer, "I know you didn't mean to remind me of...Petro."

Her voice quavered slightly and she bit back a tear. Clint rubbed his neck again before gently setting his arm around her shoulders. He drew her in for a quick hug before releasing her. Wanda gave him a small smile in return; the archer had somewhat appointed himself as a fatherly figure as well as a brotherly figure. She knew and liked that he likewise missed Petro even though he hadn't known her brother that long.

Which gave her all the more reason to tease him.

"Don't you have something to do?" she asked slyly.

Clint's face morphed into a look a panic, "Oh crap."

He practically raced out of the room, nearly clipping his heel on the doorstop. Wanda rolled her eyes and walked after him slowly. Her shadow was the only thing reflecting on the wall of the hallway. She took a brief glance at the clock hanging on the wall. It read, one o'clock am. She frowned; it seemed she was almost staying awake later and later each night—or as Tony put it, pulling an all-nighter—but for some reason it was not effecting her. The few times she had managed to get some sleep, she would wake up later and could not fall asleep as the night continued. Wanda had no idea why she still did...she had gotten over her brother's death months ago.

She hadn't told anyone about her problems sleeping including Clint. Vision had questioned her a few times—before the big fight—about it, but she brushed his concerns off claiming she had drank too much caffeine before bed. Fortunately, the robot knew better than too read her mind, so he hadn't known whether she was lying or not.

Wanda entered the meeting room and was surprised to see that the team had already arrived. Steve was leaning comfortably in a chair nearest to her. He gave her a curt nod to acknowledge her presence. Clint was sitting next to him with his feet up on the table. Tony was too busy snoring away in his chair to yell at him; it was pushed so far back from the table that the genius was on the brink of falling onto the ground. His eye was still swollen and puffy. It must have hurt since Tony's drooping hand held a dripping bag of ice.

Natasha had moved the nearly empty jellybean bowl so that it was in front of her. She didn't touch any of the few remaining candies, instead she kept moving the bowl in a slow circle. Wanda could tell she was pretty angry and/or confused about whatever had happened in the alley. Clint hadn't even told her anything yet but promised to when the rest of the team was present. Obviously Natasha knew but was not saying. The jellybeans made a dry rustling sound as they rolled along the bottom of the dish. None of the team members—except for Tony for obvious reasons—appeared to be tired. Wanda wanted to make sure she was not going to be the second one to crumple.

"Now that everyone is here," Steve cleared his throat and straightened up, "I think we should hear what exactly happened...Clint, Natasha—"

He frowned as Tony's snoring increased in volume, almost as if he wanted to drown out Cap's discussion. Wanda quietly took a seat next to Clint and placed her hands in her lap. Seeing the team so nervous made _her_ nervous. Unfortunatly, sometimes her powers reacted spontaneously when she had this feeling. Several times Sam had to pry a stapler off the ceiling, or Steve had to purchase her a new jacket when the current one went up into the stratosphere.

Without even moving from her seat, Natasha nudged the chair next to her. It toppled over and smacked into Tony's. With a snort, he sat up with a blurry-eyed expression on his face. The ice pack hit the ground and spilled the melted ice everywhere.

"Huh? I'm awake," he yawned before rubbing his eyes, "What I miss?"

"Nothing," Clint answered, "Except for the fact that our teammates are wondering what happened in that alley."

He had a scowl on his features and it made his face darken slightly. The wound he had on his cheek turned a pale color in stark contrast to the dark red shade of his face. The archer clearly was not in the mood for genius's jokes. Wanda rested her hand on his shoulder to settle him before turning to Tony.

"What happened?" she asked, her accent thick in her throat.

The man cleared his throat, "Well...err. I didn't exactly see or know what happened—thanks Clint. All I know is...I went in the opposite direction that Widow and Hawkeye went and um...well...then Nat started screaming in my ears that Clint was—"

"I didn't scream that," Natasha pointed as she continued to push the bowl around, "You clearly didn't listen to me."

"Whatever," Tony rolled his eyes just before an enormous yawn took a hold of him, "Damn it...this is so going to screw up my—"

"Tony," Steve said warningly.

"Anyways," the genius yawned once more before continuing, "I arrived at the alley...found Clint bleeding from a wound on his cheek. And he handed me this."

He plunked his hand down on the table surface. In his hand was an arrow. Giving them a satisfied smirk, Tony sat back and started gently probing the bruise around his eye with his free hand; wincing.

"You're joking right?" Steve arched an eyebrow.

"No Cap," Clint leaned forward and snatched the arrow from Tony's hand before holding it out for them all to see, "This belonged to a man who shot at me."

The arrow's shape was similar to his, except Wanda could see that the flechings on the end were a bright green color, and the arrow head was a bit narrower. She leaned over and touched it lightly with her finger. An odd chill go up her spine making her shift uncomfortably. She could sense anger, pain, and...the sensation faded. She kept quiet about what she had felt not knowing if the long nights without sleep were getting to her or not.

"You sure you didn't shoot him first?" Tony asked teasingly.

Wanda put her hand out to stop Clint from punching the man in the face for a second time. Not that she would have liked to see how it went down, she just didn't want the discussion to get sidetracked.

The archer sighed deeply and clasped his hands together before putting them behind his head. He leaned his chair back slightly; ignoring an angry glare from Natasha who was obviously regarding his injured arm. For a moment he did not say anything. When he did, he sounded unsure of himself, "I went into the alley and looked around for perhaps five to ten minutes. I didn't see anything. Then the hairs prickled on the back on my head—you know like when you know something is standing behind you or something. I looked up and there was this man sitting on the roof looking down at me. He had a bow in his hands but it wasn't...loaded. I called him out and may have shot an arrow or two at him"

Clint scratched his chin before continuing, "I don't really remember what happened next. I was practically trying to stay alive. Since his skill was about as good as mine—"

"Wait what?" Tony straightened up from his slouched position as the conversation suddenly became interesting to him, "Did you just say—"

"Really?" Steve gave him an exasperated look, "That's _all_ you've gotten out of the story?"

"Well if it means anything to you Capsicle—"

"Boys," Natasha interjected, "This isn't the time for alpha male smack talk. Now do you mind shutting up?"

She sat back in her chair. Steve nodded politely to her before turning to Clint who sighed.

"I made sure to shoot tranquillizer arrows at him so I could...you know bring him in for questioning. But this guy...jeez...he was like a phantom. I could never place his location or the time slots between his shots. He never managed to knick me...until...well...he caught me unawares."

Clint gently touched the notch on his cheek and winced as if it had stung. He swung his feet off the table and placed them on the ground before leaning forward resting his chin on his hands.

"I asked him who he was but didn't get a chance to ask him who he was working for. I couldn't even see his face; he had hood obscuring it from sight. He didn't answer but gave this really scary growl in response. I shot at him and he shot at me. Bastard decided to use an explosive arrow. Both arrows practically blew up in our faces, and while I was reeling back from a nose full of smoke, he took off. Didn't see where he went...or how he got away so easily."

There was complete silence around the table. Even Natasha had stopped moving the bowl of jellybeans around. Wanda glanced down at it and made a couple of the candies levitate. They only managed to for a span of a few seconds before melting into sugary sludge, showing her anxiety. Without a word, Tony pulled up a glowing scan in the middle of the table so they all could see it. He typed in a few commands before pulling up a black and white security camera feed.

"Friday," he commanded, "Play the video once through."

" _Right away sir_ ," the A.I said.

Wanda squinted her eyes as Clint's account was played out in front of her. It was hard to see the grainy figured of the man who darted around, disappearing in and out of shadows. He acted and looked exactly as Hawkeye had described him; a phantom. There was a miniature explosion on the video, and Clint was shown sprawling backward. Surprising Tony didn't crack a joke or snicker at his friend's expense. The hooded man, after briefly glancing at Clint, sprang away and disappeared for a couple of seconds off the screen. Wanda thought it was over, but F.R.I.D.A.Y kept rolling the footage. An arrow suddenly appeared on the video in front of the camera from...somewhere. The video feed suddenly cut to static implying that the man had short-circuited the footage by shooting the arrow into the recorder. Steve sat back in his chair with his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"See if you can get a image of him," he said, "Perhaps the camera caught a view of his face despite Clint not having much luck."

Tony pulled up a single frame that had the best view of the hooded man and left it for them to see. It was a nearly profile view of the man, but a hood covered his face preventing them from identifying him. The screen kept flickering from black (negative) and white (positive), and then to briefly color. Wanda's eyes opened slightly as she noticed that the man's suit was a dark green interchanging coloration; some parts out his suit were almost black while others were a brighter shade of green though still dark in hue. He had two straps running down his chest which were stuffed with what appeared to be bullet casings. The shafts of his arrows had bright green flechings just like the one they had. His arms were encased with sleeves and he was wearing gloves over his hands. It would be very unlikely to get DNA off the arrow they had confiscated.

The footage sudden brightened before disappearing from view. A notice appeared on the screen in a bright red capital letters: SIGNAL LOST. Tony cursed and tried to bring it up but was unsuccessful in his attempts. Wanda wondered if was a result of the arrow becoming lodged into the camera, but her gut told her that the video malfunction was from something else. But what?

"He knew the camera was there," Clint observed, "But how? Even I didn't see a freaking camera in that alleyway."

His hands snaked over to an eraser lying on the table and he started maneuvering it between his fingers, almost fluid like in his movements.

"You know what this means right?" Natasha said quietly, "It means that he's extremely experienced. His training isn't S.H.E.I.L.D protocol or even...my training experience. You can tell back the way he holds himself he knows what he is doing."

That statement further solidified Wanda's thoughts about what she had seen on the footage. She frowned slightly.

"And he has that otherworldly radiation pulsating off him," Tony added, apparently giving up on the security film, pulling up a statistics screen, "But just as before as the other alarms we've gotten...it disappeared as soon as he dropped off Clint's radar."

"You mean got blown off my radar," the archer grumbled as he flicked the eraser at a potted plant in the corner using just his index finger.

Wanda brushed her hair behind her ears, "So vat? You're saying he's some kind of...ghost?"

"No," Tony cast her a look, "I'm saying he might be an alien. That means more came through than we originally thought."

* * *

 _Earth Prime: Location_ — _Team Arrow's Hideout_

 _01:35 hours_

"SIGNAL LOST" a mechanical female voice spoke from the computer.

"Ugh!" Felicity banged her head down onto the desk in exasperation, "Fifty-two thousand searches and I've got squat."

She was quiet for a signal or two before muttering a low curse in pain. Thea looked up from the mound of tech books her friend had provided her in order to speed the process along.

"If that thing says signal lost one more time I swear I'm going to put my foot through it," she growled, "Or use it for target practice."

She brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face before glancing back into the book ignoring Felicity's look of mock horror. The words swarmed across the page like ants, and she abruptly slammed it shut with a bang. She hadn't realized her eyelids were dropping; reminding her unpleasantly of some college study nights. Wordlessly she picked the book with two fingers and plunked it down next to Felicity who looked up startled.

"Finished already?"

"Yeah," Thea sighed and scooted a chair up to sit next to her friend, "I couldn't read anymore."

"SIGNAL LOST," the computer blared again as yet another search failed to go through.

"Thought you hated reading," Rene teased with a smirk as he wiped a cloth across the barrel of his pistol, "After all, you ought to hear yourself curse when there are a lot of paper work for you to get through.

"Shut up Wild _Mutt_ ," she scowled before smirking, "Unless you want another punch to the face during a sparing session."

Rene shut his mouth with a snap and went back to cleaning his gun, muttering something about little sisters being a pain in the ass. Thea dug a stack of neatly organized papers in a file out of a backpack sticking from under her desk and opened it. Lying in the middle was a lined piece of paper with neatly scribbled notes from someone. Whoever it was had been generous enough to help Thea get through enough paper work that would have occupied her for a week.

" _Ollie said that you were really stressing out about getting this done. So I decided to organize it for you. I'm not much of a writer, but a friend of mine helped to write up his next speech to the city. And filed the signed contracts in a file folder, in the bottom drawer of file cabinet fifty-two. Hope this helped!"_

 _Signed, Barry._

She blinked a stray tear out of her eye and angrily wiped it away. Oliver never expressed his feelings so neither should she (though she felt like doing it for the past miserable twelve hours). However, she could not help but feel a twinge of remorse for their lost teammates; her stomach churned as she though abut them. Cisco was a great friend who was funny/endearing in some cases and annoying in others. Kara was described as amazing and cheerful as well as Barry. Oliver? Well...he was her brother and she looked up to him. She had immense respect and love for her older sibling.

Which was why she was not going to cry. She had to be tough and reserved in order to get the others through. Sighing slightly, she picked up the note and walked over to Felicity who looked up at her.

"Why did he do this?" she asked.

"Oh," for a moment Felicity looked embarrassed, "Err...Barry saw your file folder sitting there and decided to help you with it" She shrugged, "You know he can speed read so it only took him a couple of seconds."

"Let me see that," Curtis leaned over and snatched the note from Thea and held as if it was pure gold, "Oh my God, you are holding something The Flash touched. That is so freaking awesome! I know I know his secret identity and everything but it still is sweet!"

"Says the guy who wouldn't shut up when he met the guy the first time," Rene muttered without looking.

"Hey! Says the guy who acted like a world class jerk until he saved your life!" Curtis whimpered and held his hands up when his teammate stood up suddenly, "Erm...a nice world class jerk..."

Thea rolled her eyes and snatched the note back from Curtis, "I'll take that, thank you!"

She stuffed it into her pocket and crossed her arms, trying to look as annoyed as possible. The computer suddenly pinged and Catlin's face popped up on the screen. Her face was worn out and tired, and her hair which was normally neat and styled, was a mess. She looked at Felicity heavy eyed.

"I take it that it did not go well?" Felicity asked hesitantly.

"Sort of..." the bioengineer answered faintly, "Joe is not mad at me. Let's just say Barry is going to get a big chewing out when he gets back...if...he gets back. If they get back."

Her words cracked the thin air around them and Thea looked down at her feet. Her breathing sounded ragged and her blood roared inside her ears. Without looking up she said:

"Search again Felicity. Keep searching until we bring them home."

* * *

 **Gah...I hate ending chapters like this. But the next one will totally make up for it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Again as a reminder _i_** ** _talics_** **are used for sound effects, emphasis, different language and comn systems/electronic voices. For Tony, when italics are not used when he speaking, either means his face plate is up, or the scene is of inside his helmet. And unfortunately when you're writing something, it is not as easy to show as on live action TV.**

 **Also I have never been to New York so I totally had to rely on Google Earth and pictures my dad took. Forgive me if I mess up.**

 **And in case you are wondering, its been a couple of days after the encounter between Clint and Oliver which will be mentioned in this chapter.**

 **Shout outs**

 **Blue Bonfire- Thank you :)**

 **Crystal- I will lead the readers/fans to decide won :) But in my opinion, it was a tie. I am being _very_ careful with the fights/pair ups in order to not frustrate fans. But there will be several pair ups perhaps even a few you are thinking of. **

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC Character belong to DC Comics/CW. Marvel characters belong to Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _07:03 hours_

Steve woke up around seven o'clock. He frowned at first not remembering the unfamiliar bedroom. Upon realizing he was in Avengers tower—a name he had been taking with a grain of salt since the team split—he was then unsure of what had woken him up. He had not set the alarm clock the night before nor had he recalled asking F.R.I.D.A.Y to wake him. Perhaps the reoccurring nightmare he had been having the past few nights regarding finding Bucky and later having to put him on ice again had something to do with it. Steve closed his eyes and sank back into his pillow. Bucky was still alive and that was what mattered. Tony had run several tests months after his first appearance to find out where he had ended up but came up with zero results.

" _I'm sorry Cap_ ," he had said, " _Perhaps you were just seeing things. I'll continue running tests...but for your sake...don't get your hopes up."_

His frenzied attack towards Bucky had really made it seem that he was not sorry at all. However, Steve still felt bad that he had kept the secret that his friend had responsible for killing Tony's parents. He couldn't help it.

With a low sigh Steve slipped out of his bed and quickly pulled on some running clothes. As he exited his room, he picked up a New York Yankees baseball cap from its peg along with a pair of sunglasses—the pair that Clint teasingly pointed out make him look like the man in Terminator.

Silently, he crept down the corridor to the elevator that would take him to the back of Avengers tower. He didn't mind getting attention from the public...but after the Sokovia incident and the giant fight at that airport...he wanted to abstain from interacting with them frequently. Especially Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross. Sooner or later the general was going to come knocking at Tony's door. And when that day came...he still was not sure what he was going to do.

As Steve passed by several of the rooms occupied by his team members, he stopped by Clint's room. Peering in, he could see his friend passed out on top of the cover of his bed as well as the dart board in the corner; its bulls eye bristling with at least a dozen arrow shafts. His head buried in a pillow while on top of the covers and muffled snores poured out from it; it was amazing that he wasn't suffocating. Him having his 'work' clothes on suggested that he had literally fallen asleep the second his head hit the pillow

Cap smiled slightly though the expression was grim. Poor Clint was so exhausted that he had been unable to go to Homestead after their meeting a day earlier. That meant one late-night/early-morning phone call for his wife from Tony. She had not been happy—not that Steve could blame her—especially when her husband decided to stick around New York for a couple more days; she still had yet to forgiven the playboy for having Clint arrested.

The super-solider figured it was because his friend was determined to find the man who had attacked him and bring him in for questioning. They all wanted to find him as well as the woman who attacked Tony...but even after two days of searching they had come up with zero traces. Even the odd energy readings had disappeared, which did nothing to improve Tony's mood or Clint's attitude. Even Natasha could not prevent his late night patrols to find the mysterious archer. If Hawkeye continued to do this he was going to wear himself out even with his S.H.I.E.L.D training. Tony's suggestion to duct tape his door shut was met with a punch to the arm, which left behind a bruise in the exact shape of Oregon.

So...they decided to avoid talking about ways to prevent Hawkeye from going out of the tower to search. Or at least when he was around.

Cap continued on his way passing by Wanda's room. The door was shut and he heard movement in her room implying she was awake. Steve paused in front of the door and lifted his hand preparing to knock. But he hesitated. Realizing it was better to let her be than to disturb her, he walked away taking care to keep his footsteps quiet.

Natasha's room was open and aside from a neatly made bed and a small framed photograph on the beside desk, she was not in there. Steve frowned wondering where she could have gone. After picking her up from where she had been hanging out the past few months, she hadn't said much to them about what happened all that time. Though he was fairly certain she had probably skipped around from place to place, waiting for them to contact her.

He passed by Rhodey's whose room was of course empty and Vision's. Both members still had not returned from their mission in Florida. Steve couldn't help but feel relieved; he was shy when it came to talking to previous teammates especially one who always took metaphors literally. He managed to sneak into the elevator without alerting F.R.I.D.A.Y; that was...until he was nearly to the bottom.

" _Good morning Captain_ ," the A.I. spoke pleasantly, " _Can I be of any assistance?_ "

"Yes," Steve shifted his weight slightly as he watched the numbers of each level flash by near the top of the elevator, "If anyone asks where I am...tell them I went out for a run."

The doors opened and the super solider pulled the baseball cap down further until they hit the rims of his sunglasses. Exiting the building, he noticed a small boy staring at him curiously from a bus station; a large backpack rested on his shoulders. Silently, Steve lifted his index finger to his lips mouthing s _shh._ The child nodded in amazement and turned abruptly away staring at his feet. He waited for a few seconds before looking back.

But by then, the familiar looking man was gone.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Five blocks from Avengers Tower_

 _08:45 hours_

Cisco took a long and deep swig from the beverage he had to beg Oliver to give money to him in order to buy. The archer's exact words were: " _DO you really need that sugar?"_

Fortunately, either he was in a good mood or vise versa that he gave him enough money for him to get a top of the line laptop computer ( in order to keep track of the team's positions), a couple monitors (prevent anyone from back-tracing them if they needed to hack something), and a bunch of material that may or may not be legal to craft some new arrows for him. Alright...he would admit that Oliver didn't have that much money (and they had decided to keep Barry's wallet and its contents for emergencies) and gave him a credit card to use it. Cisco seriously hoped that the spending spree would not alert the IRIS and FBI and turn them both into a modern day Frank Abagnale.

So far their luck had held.

While Kara and Oliver explored the city and tried to find out more about the man who attacked Oliver as Green Arrow as well as more info about Iron Man, Barry took a different route: sleeping.

Alright...not all the time. He stayed up almost all night the past three days trying to piece together what happened as well as trying to breech portals between the two earths. Cisco tried not to act too annoyed though; his friend was running himself ragged trying to find them a way home...literally.

The tech genius had provided as much assistance as he could, but with his gauntlets not working and his goggles totaled he had to rely on computers to help out. It didn't bug him too much...but it made him homesick for S.T.A.R Labs which was full of all the high tech gizmos anyone who loved computers would want.

Instead he had to rely on what he had.

As Barry took a much needed nap in the hotel room, Cisco decided to explore the city and try to find out if anyone had noticed any abnormal several days earlier. Abnormal meaning: giant blue portals, bright flash of light etc. A few people did remark that they had an uneasy feeling from time to time, and one even mentioned seeing a bright flash of light near the alley where they woke up. Unfortunatly, mostly people looked at him with confused looks and one even had to nerve to ask if he was drunk.

Cisco shook his head, threw his empty cup in a trashcan, and continued to walk through the crowded trails of Central Park. He squeezed past a pair of fat ladies arguing and loitering by a bus stop. He shot them a dirty look before readjusting his shirt. Before he could walk any farther, a spark of pain sparked through his head and he collapsed to his knees with a groan.

Images flashed behind his eye lids moving so fast he could barely make sense of them.

 _A man incased in a red and gold suit of armor held a giant missile on his back. He flew up towards a hole in a sky, so big that it looked as if the sky had torn itself in half._

 _Another image...one of man with a shield with red and white stripes, with a star in the middle. Bullets sparked off the disk as if it was impenetrable. It should have been scientifically impossible...not even Kevlar or bullet-proof glass could have that capability._

 _More images moving faster now...a woman manipulating a red orb of energy, a giant green monster roaring, a man swinging a hammer above his head. It shot off sparks of electricity like a Tesla coil._

 _A man moving much like Barry getting cut down by bullets. Cisco reached out for him and tried to touch him. His hand came back sticky with blood. He heard heavy breathing and turned to see a man with a quiver of arrows on his back; looking much more friendly than Oliver on his good days and holding a young boy in his arms. The man stepped forward and gave no indication that Cisco was there. He knelt at the man's side and tears glimmered in the corners of his eyes as he turned away. The image faded and was quickly replaced by another._

 _A robot unleashing a horde of the ugly things on a group of people. Some of them looked as if they should have been tossed in for scrap metal a long time ago. Others were reduced to just legs. A couple crawled forward using their arms, electronic wiring spilling out from their severed half. All of them swarmed towards civilians as an island of rock half the size of Central City rose into the air._

 _The flash of light much like the one which brought them here shown but illuminated a different skyline: New York. Cisco could barely make out the silhouette of a man standing in the middle of it holding a glowing blue cube in his hand._

 _Then came an image of a building collapsing. Cisco could see at the top the archer from before falling with the debris. He felt a gust of wind fly past him and saw a familiar looking red blur with yellow electricity sparking off it. It disappeared into the falling pieces of concrete and metal and disappeared. Cisco tried calling out his friend's name but nothing came out...no sound came out._

 _His throat constricted. Something grabbed at his feet and he glanced down. Black shadows twisted and turned like serpents and started to drag at him. He tried screaming but nothing...no voice came out. He looked around frantically trying to find anyone who could help him._

 _Four words flashed before his eyes..._ _Divided, Conquer, Connect, Raze. All were written on a concrete wall that was well scuffed and scratched with a faded manufacturing factory logo painted on the rock in the background. Three earths appeared and shook and trembled as they were drawn closer together; cities bursting into flames on their surfaces and countless dying._

 _The shadows pulled him down, down into the darkness. A humming filled his ears at he sunk up to his knees, then his waist, and then up to his head. Inky blackness covered his eyes...but the living shadows were still there in the darkness. They keep grabbing at his shoulders and screaming SIR! SIR!_

With a start Cisco snapped out of the vibe, startled that his powers had started up after so many of days of silence. Someone _was_ grasping at his shoulders and shaking him.

"Sir? Are you alright? Kid!?"

Cisco lashed out and managed to shove himself away from whoever was holding him. His breath came out in deep, ragged breaths and he felt himself shaking. For a moment he closed his eyes.

Even though he had better control over his powers...he still had not totally gotten used to them and how they effected him when he was not using his gear to control them.

"You okay kid?" the deep voice which had knocked him out of his trance made him turn.

An African American man in jogging clothing stood over him with a concern look in his brown eyes. Cisco stifled a groan realizing he had a crowd gather around him. They probably thought he was having a seizure or something. He couldn't say anything though in his defense.

"Someone call an ambulance," the jogger turned to the crowd, "I think he is in shock."

A bunch of people pulled out cell-phones. Oh man...Oliver was _so_ going to kill him for this. Not to mention Barry...actually more likely Oliver.

"No," Cisco managed to scramble to his feet, "I'm fine. Honestly. Just heh...a day-mare."

He brushed himself off and tried to grin. But secretly he was still trembling inside. What and where had those images come from?

"No..." the jogger shook his head, "You are definitely not alright. You need to have someone take a look at you. You collapsed and started having spasms."

Cisco bit the inside of his lip and chewed it as the crowd closed in preventing him from escaping. He had to do something...and fast.

"Look!" he yelped as he pointed in the direction of the Empire State building, "There's a giant gorilla hanging off that thing!"

His tone was so convincing that he almost bought the lie he, himself had created. It wasn't too hard to have that certain idea pop into his head considering they had to deal with a said giant gorilla _twice_. Everyone turned and found that there was nothing there. The jogger turned and discovered that the man he had been trying to help had disappeared completely from sight.

Cisco's feet pounded on the concrete as he took off from the park, straight to their hotel room. Of course being an idiot, he was not looking where he was going. He started across the crosswalk as the signal changed; a car ran through the red light. He yelped, when hand grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him out of the way in time; the vehicle's horn blared. The driver rolled down the window and yelled obscurities before taking off.

Panting, Cisco turned to look at his rescuer and recognized him as the man a few days before. He was still wearing the same baseball cap; pulled down low against his eyes, allowing them only to be seen if he looked straight at the intended person.

"You ought to be more careful son," the man scolded sternly, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

He crossed his arms and looked sternly down at the Hispanic man. His imposing height was all muscle, unlike Barry's who was built like a runner (for obvious reasons); tall and lithe. For a moment Cisco thought the guy was not going to recognize him. But he immediately regretted thinking that the next second considering it would probably jinx his luck.

"No where."

He brushed past the man and instantly had another vibe.

 _He was standing in middle a lone airship that was flying into the ocean. The wide cockpit window in front of him showed a sea of blue and white; shards of ice jutted out from the water like the teeth of a gigantic beast ready to swallow him up. Without even looking around, the tech genius knew that the aircraft was in trouble. He could hear the fuel leaking and the instruments rattling. He smelled burning petroleum and the wind whistling through the gaps in the plane._

 _"You know I can't still dance."_

 _Cisco turned his head and saw a young blond man sitting the seat next to him. His uniform bloodstained and torn blazed a red, white, and blue coloration. He looked weary yet determined. His hands tightly gripped the control wheel; knuckles white from the pressure. Glancing at the throttle, the engineer could tell it was not broken and still functional. Cisco took a seat next to the man and looked at him sadly. He felt like telling him that there was a way to save the plane and himself._

 _But in vibes...he could talk but people around him were not aware of his presence especially when it was taking place in the past. He looked at the consul. There was a blinking hazards symbol, which translated to radioactive material. Next to it was a destination: New York. A hand grabbed his stomach and squeezed it...hard. The man was saving an entire city at the cost of his own._

 _That...that was pretty heroic in Cisco's book._

 _"I can show you how," a woman's voice resounded through the radio control panel._

 _Her voice sounded as if tears were below the surface. Outside...the sheets of ice drew closer. Cisco could almost make out every single crevice in them. Different shades of white flashed around the edge of his vision; ranging from a blinding white to a rich Azul blue color. He quickly looked around for a parachute, hoping that there might be one he could find and try to throw into the man's lap. But there were none and there was nothing that could be used to build one. His hands tightened around the armrest of the chair as the ice loomed closer. Bile filled his throat as the G-force increased._

 _"You better choose something slow," the blond man said rapidly as his doom approached quickly, "I'd hate to step on your_ —"

 _Then came the sound of tearing metal and a ringing sound filled Cisco's ears. Water filled his nostrils and he reeled back, conking his head on the back of his chair. Blindly he swam upwards and tried to find a way out. He could feel the liquid seeping into his throat as his lungs became deprived of air; instinctively breathing in water, oil, and blood. Everything went black and all he could feel was a bone-chilling cold spreading across his body as ice encased him in a coffin. Slowly his heartbeat stilled:_

 _Boom, boom, boom, boom..._

 _Before it stopped completely._

Cisco shielded away from the man, startled by what he had seen and what he had experienced; never before had his vibes been that...real. The man looked at him curiously but his face was full of worry.

"Are you okay son? You look as if you have seen a ghost."

"Um...Igottago," Cisco blurted out seeing a paramedic heading his way, with the jogger in tow.

He took off running again this time making sure to duck into an alleyway to avoid being trailed. The entire time he began to moan about his rotten luck. He hoped that Oliver would never hear about this...the archer would never let him down if he did.

When his lungs felt like they were going to collapse, Cisco stopped running and slumped against the side of the alleyway. He panted heavily and sweat dripped off his face in rivers. Wiping his brow with his arm, the tech genius sat on the top of an overturned trashcan and allowed his breathing to slow. Somewhere in his subconscious, he could still feel the ice closing in on him and he shuttered. What the hell had he just seen? There was no way the man he bumped into could have survived that!

"I wonder how you can run this much Barry," he muttered, "And not feel like you're going to die."

He pulled himself together and started jogging back towards his hotel intending to circle it before entering; his sides screaming with each step. Unnoticed...the blond man wearing the New York Yankees baseball cap, watched him from the front of the alleyway. The man took a step forward as if to follow him before stopping. He didn't even looked winded though it was pretty obvious he had been trailing the former for some time. His shirt was slightly sweat stained, but he wasn't even breathing heavily.

Without a word, he turned and started running in the opposite direction of which his target had taken; straight towards Avengers tower.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _08:55 hours_

Tony knew he was playing with fire. But quite frankly he didn't care.

He careful manipulated the drone he had just built so that it hovered silently above Clint's bed, carefully balancing the bucket of cold water below it. Of course the general public only had access to the drones that were loud and annoying. Being a billionaire as well as a genius had it perks; allowing him access to drones that were a bit smaller and more stealthy than the ones on Amazon. Unfortunatly, the downside was its low signal control, which meant he had to stand in the archer's doorway to deliver the wake-up call prank.

Snickering quietly, Tony tipped the drone slightly to the right. The bucket tipped sending down a torrent of ice cold water. Clint leapt up, spraying water like a beached whale. Groping around blindly, he managed to grab an arrow from the quiver under his pillow and flung it. The shaft found its intended target; the drone became pinned onto the top of the door frame like a bizarre high-tech Christmas ornament.

The archer blinked the sleep out of his eyes and slowly began to realize what had happened.

"When I get out of here you're dead meat Stark," Clint shouted at the vacant door way, "You hear? You're dead meat!"

He started to untangle himself from sodden sheets; stumbling and struggling to tug his boots on as he did so.

Tony had abandoned the controller for the drone and raced down the hallway laughing as he did, "Chill Clint! Sheesh! Do you ever get _this_ mad whenever your kids wake you up like this?"

"They never have woken me up like this!" the archer's voice bellowed back.

Tony's bare feet thudded against the wooden planks. He slid to a stop before dashing around the corner planning to lock himself in his lab until Clint cooled down. Instantly, he collided with Steve who happened be doing the same thing. The entire world seem to shake as the billionaire went down.

The super-solider didn't even budge, but his facial expression showed how startled he was. Tony sprawled out on the 'living room' floor trying to regain his breath. Running into Cap was like running into a tree trunk; with the knots and stubbornness included in the package.

Calling the room they were currently in the living room was being generous. It was twice the size of a parking garage in a small apartment complex with an second level; and that was without the walls and furniture. Giant windows provided a gorgeous view of the New York skyline and for those with Acrophobia a one way trip to the infirmary.

With a groan Tony sat up and clutched his throbbing forehead. Pounding feet resounded behind him and he turned seeing Clint's angry face glaring down at him. The archer grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt like a naughty child, and yanked him up to his feet. Before he could do anything, Steve spoke.

"I ran into someone today," he said.

His voice sounded troubled and demanded attention. Both men turned towards him and Clint loosened his grasp on Tony's shirt and part of his neck. He crossed his arms. His face appeared to be etched in stone but he had some amount of worry hidden within his rugged features.

"What do you mean Cap?" Tony asked shoving Clint away from him, before his face morphed into a disgusted look, "Oh God please don't tell me it was—"

"It wasn't Ross," Steve assured him, "It was a man. Latino...perhaps twenty-seven years old. Black shoulder length hair with brown eyes."

"And this concerns us how?"

"He was the same man who bumped into me a couple of days ago," the super-solider answered, "He had a couple of friends with him then. But this time he was alone. I saved him from getting hit by a car and when he turned to leave, he appeared to be having a stroke of some sort. Before I could do anything, he regained composure and gave me a look as if he seen a ghost."

"He recognized you?" this time Clint spoke. There was some concern emanating from his voice. The archer shifted his feet slightly, the booted one thudding on the floor, the bare one slapping it.

"No," Steve shook his head, "It was a different kind of look. It was if he had looked into my past and saw something from it. Before I could question him, he took off. I trailed him for a while before coming back here. He didn't notice."

Tony wanted to let out a hoot of laughter and tell Cap he had clearly been seeing things, but the serious look his friend wore sobered him into silence. He didn't say anything. Instead he allowed Clint to share a valuable piece of information.

"Natasha and I noticed something a few days ago," the archer wrinkled his nose up to stifle a sneeze, "Before I ran into that other archer, there was a man who fled from the alleyway minutes before the confrontation. His features fit the description you give. I don't think this is a pure coincidence."

"Agreed," Steve nodded in accord, "Those other friends of his...they all acted very...weird."

"You remember what they look like?" Tony asked.

"I didn't catch their faces that well. So...no."

Clint groaned, "Well _that's_ helpful."

A high pitched beeping noise suddenly started screaming, growing louder and louder with each passing second. Tony practically raced over to his computer, nearly slipping on the slick hardwood. He slammed into the edge of the table letting out a squeak of pain as it rammed him right in the groin. Uttering a low curse, he dropped himself into the chair before allowing his fingers fly across the holographic keyboard.

Several different browsers sprung up and he clicked on the one that was blinking rapidly. The sever expanded, covering the entire screen and work table.

"What is that?" Clint asked.

"It's," Tony stopped to clear his throat in order to prevent his voice from sounding so high pitched, "It's an algorithm I wrote before you guys showed up. I programmed it to alert me to any of the other worldly radiation. And it just got a ping. Two...actually."

He swiveled his mouse so that it popped up another icon, showing the supposed heat signatures of New Yorkers'. Steve leaned closer to examine the screen; Tony could feel him breathing on his neck. The super solider was quiet as well as Clint, though the playboy was pretty sure he was annoyed by the lack of information.

"This measures the radiation out put of all the people in the city," Tony explained using his hands to pull down the lower eyelids of his eyes before releasing, "As you can see they are colored bright yellow and orange."

"And the otherworldly intruders?" Steve asked.

"Green," Tony responded nonchalantly.

Seeing Clint's look he added, "I got bored. Had spinach the night I designed it. Sue me."

"Rather not," the archer muttered, "You'll win."

Tony smirked and started typing again so that it scanned the area where the ping originated from. Two glowing green blobs outlined in yellow showed up on the screen.

"Those would be our targets. How about we go get them?"

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _09:15 hours_

Kara watched Oliver anxiously. She really didn't like how he had insisted going to the city streets and finding out information from people including some being part of the scum society. Sure she was invulnerable, but it didn't lessen danger level. If someone pulled a gun out and shot her, the bullet could ricochet and hit her friend.

"So...um...Oliver," she said tentively as they navigated their way through the thick crowds, "Apart from what that drunken guy said about the archer—Hawkeye or whatever his name was—who attacked you...do we have anything else to go by?"

"Unfortunatly no," he turned his head to face her allowing the hood obscuring his face to temporarily be pushed away, "It seems that people are hesitant to talk about this man. Which means we'll have to continue searching until it gets too dark or...we find out more."

The Kryptonian sighed and glanced down at her jacket. She wondered why Oliver had suggested that she wear her costume, yet cover the symbol on her chest with a thick jacket, as well as leaving her glasses back at the hotel. He himself was not following Barry's caution about 'playing low key'. The archer was wearing his standard civilian garb but had his uniform stored underneath. His bow was strapped to his back in storage position along with his quiver, and had been cleverly camouflaged by Cisco.

Kara hurriedly caught up to Oliver, his long stocky strides temporarily pushing him in front of her. She had noticed a man trailing them—she recognized him as the man who had bumped into Cisco a couple days before. This time, the man was wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, and was sprouting a pair of sunglasses that shielded his eyes. Though the day was in-between warm and cold, he was dressed in a leather jacket.

Knowing it was important to alert the archer to his presence, Kara gently tapped his shoulder. Oliver turned his head, and grunted to show that he noticed. His eyes however, withheld his annoyance for a quick moment; in lieu of him snapping something at her.

He abruptly turned and stood in front of the many hotdog stands lining the streets. The archer pulled out his wallet to purchase some of the junk food. Kara wondering what he was up to, stood next to him. She watched the man out of the corner of her eye and had a feeling Oliver was doing the same. The man passed them but Kara could hear a small voice emanating from his ear.

" _Have they noticed you Cap...sorry...Steve?_ "

She recognized as the voice belonging to 'Iron Man'...also known as Tony Stark to the people in this earth. Kara fidgeted slightly, bumping into Oliver. He ignored her and started up a causal conversation with the hotdog stand owner who was talking to him about the weather and about the supposed sightings of the old Avengers days before.

"No..." the man who had been trailing them muttered under his breath as he knelt down to tie his shoe, "They haven't. Clint?"

" _Hear you loud and clear._ "

Kara jerked her head in the direction she had heard the comn system and the man's actual voice. Her periscopic vision zeroed in on a man leaning causally against a building across the street like he owned the place. He had dark sunglasses covering his eyes. A barely visible smirk covered his face and the air of self-control radiated off him. He had a large black backpack strapped to his back. Kara narrowed her eyes and x-rayed through the fabric. She spotted a stored bow, not unlike Oliver's, stuffed inside along with a quiver of arrows.

The archer.

" _Targets are in vision_ ," the man said before frowning slightly, " _Remind me why the rest of the team aren't here yet?"_

"We have to assess the situation first," 'Steve' as Tony had so clearly stated replied as he turned to look into a window of a nearby shop at their reflections, "If need be we will call them. Natasha is on standby as well as Wanda."

" _Sure as hell does not fill me with confidence after what Tony said that lady did to his suit..._ "

Done with his discussion, Oliver handed Kara the hotdog he had bought and walked forwards. She followed after him, anxious to tell him what she had overheard. They passed by a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk, and she quickly passed the food off to him; she was too nervous to enjoy something she usually did.

Steve continued to trail them, but Oliver grabbed Kara's arm and used a crowd of tourists to cover them as he yanked her into a doorway of a store. He turned his back so it looked as if he was kissing her; in reality his face was inches from hers. Kara could not see past his shoulder and preferred not to use her x-ray vision. Things tended to get disgusting when she used it on humans.

"I counted two trailers..." he breathed as Steve stopped a few feet from them looking around anxiously, "Hear anything useful?"

The man craned his neck to look over the tops of people's heads before slipping into the crowd.

" _Lost them_."

"Sort of," Kara grimaced slightly as a gust of wind spat her hair onto her lips, "They're talking about trailing us. I got three voices. Iron Man's voice was one of them. I don't know where he is...but I am sure he is around here somewhere. The archer was another one."

Oliver nodded curtly. He turned away from her and shaded his eyes against the sun. Steve was no longer in sight, and neither was the man named Clint. Kara strained her ears to see if she could pin-point their location, but gave upon hearing multiple heart-beats from other pedestrians. She nodded and Oliver stepped out into the open. His hood ruffled slightly in the wind as he turned his head slowly from side to side.

 _Wrrrrrrrrrrr!_

Kara froze. She had spent enough time with Winn to know the sound of a weapon firing up. Not to mention Cisco who was a little too good with cooking up drones who would put a military grade rocket to shame. But...she recognized it as the sound of a machine that belonged to a certain man who found out it was like to get his behind handed to him by a girl.

"Watch out!"

She abruptly shoved Oliver to the side just as a bright bluish-white beam of energy streaked towards the archer. The blast hit the center of her chest, charring her jacket to blackened shreds of fabric. The only thing left behind was the red and blue uniform of a giant S. Kara ripped off the charred remainders of the jacket allowing her cape to spill out behind her. The crowds of people scrambled backwards frightened of the strange woman who had not been incapacitated by something that would have hurt a normal person.

Iron Man dropped down in front of her with a loud clank. His face mask popped open showing the face of the man Kara already knew would be there.

"Stand down and no one gets hurt," he said holding his arm up.

A glowing light shone brightly in the center of his palm. It was amazing that his armor was still working despite having it damaged to the point of scrap metal. Or more likely...he had replaced it.

Lucky her.

"Besides you?" Kara taunted.

She floated several feet off the ground and crossed her arms. A hush fell over the assembled pedestrians though several of them started to slowly ease away from the two heroes in front of them.

"I'm warning you..." Stark started to say as his face mask clanked back down, " _You are coming with me. I have a few questions to ask you. We can do this the hard way...or the easy way_."

"And if I refuse?" she asked wanting to see if he was serious or not.

" _Hard way it is_."

He leveled his arm and pointed it directly at her face. Before he could fire, a whistling sound filled the air. An arrow suddenly became lodged in a kink in the armor causing the man to bend over with a silent groan. Sparks shot out from the damaged part and the machine he was wearing whirled as he tried straightening up.

Oliver had somehow managed to change into his vigilante persona out of sight and quickly, before coming back to aid his friend. Normally Kara would have told him that she would be able to handle someone by herself, but this time she was grateful to see a familiar looking face.

" _If its going to be the hard way,_ " Oliver growled in his menacing voice as he nocked another arrow into his bow, " _You are going to have to deal with two of us."_

It was too late Kara later realized. It was have saved them a lot of trouble if they had explained right then and there, that they meant the people of New York no harm. They should have asked for assistance from this earth's heroes and probably would have saved a lot of tax payers from paying for the damages.

But the battle field had been drawn in the sand...and with all wars...there were always casualties.

* * *

 **Quick question for you guys: Since X-rays give off radiation and the only way to prevent those waves from harming humans, doctors and dentists use lead sheets when taking them. Hence the reason why Supergirl/Superman cannot see through that metal. So technically aren't they possibly giving radiation poisoning to people when they use it on them?**

 **Ah...I don't mind if it isn't the case. Comics stretch science a bit and I really don't mind in most cases XD**

 **~Sil**


	8. Chapter 8

**I think we can all agree. Anytime new superheroes meet each other...there is always a fight. Or in this case...two separate groups from alternate earths.**

 **I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter. Don't worry...there will be several POV's from most characters. And of course...different pair ups with who versus who. I hope I get most of the ones people would want to happen.**

 **Sorry it took me a while to update. School got busy, and I got busy...and I'm trying to finish the cover for this darn thing.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **Shout outs**

 **SupersonicPunch- I can totally see that you are a Flash fan :) I have something on my profile you might like ;) Barry will be coming soon don't worry. I have not forgotten about my favorite speedster!**

 **PreMed-Agreed. I have to say I like your Guest name. It goes really well with the comment you wrote.**

 **Guest (1)- Perhaps :)**

 **Guest (2)-Thank you for that input :D It makes more sense now.**

 **Crystal- Fair enough XD Though I do give Cisco an A for effort. Thank you. To be honest, I likewise choked up when I wrote it. I am glad you enjoyed it. :) Yeah Tony shot first...sometimes I swear that man doesn't look before he shoots.**

 **Amy- Awwww! You have no idea how much that meant to me. Tell your friend thanks for the compliment! And thank you for the thoughtful review. If you love action scenes, then you are going to love this one.**

 **Tenza-I have to admit your review had me rolling. Some wonderful fans of this story explained its not really 'x-rays' but again its comics...who cares!? You'll have to see who will win. I have to have fans for both archers be happy you know :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC characters belong to CW/DC Comics. Marvel characters belong to Marvel Comics and the amazing Stan Lee!**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _09:20 hours_

" _Clint_?" Tony remarked as he snapped the arrow the archer had lodged into his armor, " _I found your archer buddy_."

He tossed it to the side where it clanged and spun into the gratings of the sewer. There was absolute silence before the pedestrians around them finally starting fleeing in the other direction; knowing it was safer to go in the opposite direction of Iron Man when confronting two armed people. Seeing an Avenger fight was not worth dying over.

" _He's mine, Distract him until I get there_ ," Hawkeye grumbled through the comn system, " _You take care of the_ lady."—he paused before adding slyly— _"Unless...you are afraid to have your ass handed to you by her again_."

" _No I am not_ ," Tony retorted.

He held his other arm up and pointed it to the green archer. The man's jaw tightened and he nocked another arrow. Drawing the drawstring back to his cheek, the man held it there. He didn't say anything but the message was clear: he was not going down without a fight. Cap shifted uneasily as he slowly removed the shield from the underside of an out-of-service taxi. Tony had to pay the driver before hand in order to have it available...as well as to have the man stay quiet.

Steve shifted his gaze towards the woman who was flying several feet above his teammates head. Her long blond hair whipped around her shoulders and her dark red cape billowed out behind her back. She did not remotely look threatening—but appearances could be deceiving. According to Tony, she had been able to take several hits from him and not appear to be injured in any way.

But the most intriguing part about her...was the giant S in the center of her chest. What did it stand for? Did it have a certain meaning?

As he watched the woman turned her head in his direction and narrowed her eyes. He stayed still...knowing there was no possible way for her to see him or hear him. She turned her head back to her companion who still hadn't lowered his weapon. Wordlessly their eyes met and a mutual understanding passed between them. The archer lowered his bow slightly.

"Look...maybe we can—" the woman started to say inching slightly forwards in Tony's direction.

A loud explosion sounded and a repulser beam hit her right in the stomach. The woman soared through the air, flipping head over heels before slamming into a nearby parked car. It promptly blew up, sending random flaming car parts everywhere. Debris flew up into the air and came down to earth with a series of clangs.

" _Sorry. What was that?_ " Tony asked holding a cupped armored hand to his ear, " _I can't hear you over the sound of my repulsers_."

" _You just made...a big mistake_ ," the archer snarled.

He re-drew the bow only to have the arrow smacked out of it by a humming forty pound flying disk. The man turned, shock written onto his face for a split second before it was replaced by anger. The archer nocked another arrow and pointed it in Cap's direction.

The super-solider sighed as his shield returned back to him. He caught it, jerked it down in front of his chest before speaking.

"Give up now. We can avoid casualties if you just surrender now."

" _Maybe if you would just listen now_ ," the man hissed his fingers dancing against the flechings as if he were contemplating releasing the arrow, " _Then maybe I can go without hurting one of you_."

" _Whoa? Did Robin Hood just make a threat_?" Tony jeered as he rocketed up in the air holding his hands up in mock surrender, " _You're outnumbered dude, your lady friend is unconscious and_ —"

He was abruptly cut off by a blue and red blur that rocketed into him. Steve only got a brief glimpse of the woman before she drew her arm back, and delivered a powerful right hook that send Tony slamming into street. A thirty foot trench appeared behind him as he plowed into the asphalt before bouncing again and disappearing out of view. The woman arched her back and flew after him. A loud blast of air sounded as she headed in the direction that Tony had non-voluntarily took; rattling windows and setting off car alarms.

Cap shook his head and turned in the direction of the archer, only to find the man gone. He had disappeared into the gloom and had left nothing behind to track him by. The super-solider stifled a curse before jogging after Tony. He slung the shield onto his back as he followed the flaming ditch that was littered was pieces of pipes, car parts, and yes...oil.

Hopefully Clint would be able to find the archer. Steve couldn't...he needed to help Tony whether or not he liked the man who quite frankly was an idiot in how he counted his chickens before they hatched. He wasn't about to leave another teammate arrogant or not behind.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Ritz Carlton_

 _09:22 hours_

Barry knew there was trouble as soon as Cisco burst through the door, out of breath, and sweating.

"Pleasedon'tkillme. Iusedmypowers,someonewasfollowingme,andIhavenoideaiftheyarestillfollowingmeand—"

"Cisco," the speedster held his hand up to calm his friend down, "I sometimes talk that fast and yet I did _not_ even get half of that. Repeat it please...but slower if you don't mind."

His friend took several deep breathes before repeating his message with two simpler words, "I...vibed."

There was a nasty bit a silence for a moment. Barry closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. He was not mad at Cisco. He was not mad at his friend for using his powers in public. The speedster himself occasionally had his own powers act sporadically. Like the time he drank too much coffee while burning the Midnight Oil, and then was vibrating so much that he passed the floor of the lab* and ended up in the girl's locker room before getting a hold of himself. And then there was the time he had lightning literally shooting from his eyes when he stubbed his toe on a _really_ hard and large piece of metal.

But he digressed.

"Continue?" he opened his eyes and looked at his friend again.

Cisco's normally light-brown face was pale and tight with worry. Seeing that Barry was not about to yell at him, he look a deep shuttering breath before finishing.

"They...the visions were weird. I...rather not describe them at the moment. But the worst thing is I ran into that guy that bumped into me days ago. I think he recognized me...and I swear I saw him following me. I had to loop the entire freaking block five times before I figured I lost him." He paused for a moment before pleading, "Please don't tell Oliver. He'll murder me."

"Unlikely," Barry mumbled to himself, "I wouldn't even let the arrow touch you."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," the CSI said trying to keep a straight face, "Where are Oliver and Kara now?"

"I thought they were with you," the engineer wailed.

"And if you haven't seen them..." Barry started to say.

There was suddenly a loud rumbling noise. The entire room shook and the glass vibrated in their panes with a high-pitched humming noise. Outside, a giant plume of black smoke wafted up from the downtown area of New York, a little ways away from Manhattan. Streams of light shot up into the sky before being abruptly cut off. Two pops of explosions soon followed and the sound of a high powered energy gun wafted through the room. A random squad car flew up into the air, its alarm wailing before slamming into a nearby building. The siren slowly toned down sounding like a malfunctioning merry-go-round.

 _BLEEE-BLOOPpppp..._

The sound died away completely leaving a mangled piece of wreckage in the side of the apartment.

Debris rained down onto the street below. Both men heard and saw a crowd of people fleeing in the opposite direction of where the fighting was coming from. Most of them were screaming and others were scattering and taking cover in shops and businesses.

A faint pinging noise started up from the monitor, alerting them to two comn systems trying to contact them.

Barry glanced back at Cisco and sped over to the backpack lying on the coffee table. He yanked it open and looked down at the emblem of his suit that gleamed back at him.

"You can't be serious," the engineer started to say as the speedster continued to look at his costume, "You said it yourself. We have to somehow have these people help us!"

"I know," Barry snatched his suit out of its storage and held it arm's length to examine it, "But something tells me that the diplomatic way didn't work."

He quickly changed into the disguise he used when he was portraying his alter ego so fast he was already clad in it before Cisco could even blink. Maroon friction proof material molded neatly into the grooves of his arms and legs. The lighting bolt in the center caught the light seemed to absorb the light of the sun and make it seem as if were crackling with real electricity. His brown eyes had hardened slightly and the depths of them gold crackling sparks shot across his irises.

The Flash turned and walked over to a pile of arrows stacked on the top of the makeshift workshop table made out of the 'dinner' table they had set up. He grabbed the entire amount—about thirty in all—and slipped them into a long tube that once stored the arrows before they were modified. Barry slipped it across his chest, made sure it was secure and looked at Cisco who looked as if he were trying to swallow a fishhook.

"Barry...you don't have to...," he started to say.

"I have to go," the speedster said pulling the mask over his face.

He flickered his friend a small smile. The air seemed to warp and bend around him as he crouched and dashed at the door, pausing for a split second to open it. He raced down the stairs—forsaking the elevator. Coming to street level, the speedster opened up and raced towards the direction of his friend; dancing around fleeing pedestrians and occasionally stopping to push one of them out of the way of a panicking driver in a car.

"Barry there is something you have to—" Cisco started to say but soon realized it was useless.

All he was talking to air. His friend was long gone.

Stifling a cry of annoyance, Cisco quickly switched on the comn link and asked, "Green Arrow? Supergirl? I'm here. Barry is on his way to offer support."

" _Um...not saying I'm grateful for hearing your voice...but I think we may have a serious problem. Tony Stark or whatever his name is...is trying to hack your system."_ Kara spoke, " _I can hear him trying._ "

"Trust me...if he does. All he is going to hear _super_ annoying songs," Cisco smirked and yanked the power cord out of the laptop computer and started typing in commands as he hurried down the stairs, "Thanks to Felicity."

As he ran, he slipped his goggles on and made sure his gauntlets were in his pockets. Though they were busted, they would still have their uses.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _09:35 hours_

The flying lady was fast...Tony had to give her that. Several times when he thought he was going to catch up with her, she managed to twist around and blast him with lasers from her eyes. Or—he preferred this—pick up speed and get ahead of him by three blocks. He really hated having his A.I continue to replace the damaged parts from the woman's attacks. The billionaire had learned from the Hulk Buster incident, the Leipzig/Halle Airport fight, and the last brush in he had with her. So now...he started carting around spare parts for the pieces that _always_ seemed to become damaged.

He caught up to her and was flying side by side. Tony jerked his arm up and used his thumb to gesture to the side.

" _Pull over. I need to see your flying license_ ,"

The woman made a face at him, "God...you're worse than Green Arrow. First time we met he first would not talk to me/avoid me, and then wouldn't shut up about how I should stay back because he needed some normalcy in his life and blah, blah, blah. Why don't you get off my tail, stop blasting me and talk."

She lay flat on her back and causally rested her arms behind her head, acting as if she was riding a pool lounge floatie instead of a jet stream. Her hair streamed out behind her and the anger in her eyes was temporarily replaced by curiosity and anxiousness.

" _Oh_ ," Tony rolled his eyes, " _Using the oldest trick in the book are we? Sorry sweetheart...not going to work. And for crying out loud. Is that seriously the best name your friend Robin Hood could come up with?"_

The woman opened her mouth to reply but was cut off.

" _Supergirl. Quit talking and punch him already. If he won't listen to you, the least you can do is shut him up so you can."_

A gravily sounding voice resounded from the her ear letting Tony know it was the archer—or "Green Arrow". The woman flipped herself around so that she was flying horizontally again before speeding ahead. She came flying back towards Tony, and drew her arm back in order to deliver another crushing blow to his armor. By now, he knew her tricks and darted onto another side street before she could succeed. He heard her muttering something behind him as she came on his tail.

" _F.R.I.D.A.Y? I need you to see if you can jam or better...hack into her comn system. If I can gain control of it, I can figure out exactly how many more members besides the two we know about."_

 _"On it boss."_

 _"Aliens with comn links?_ " Natasha's voice came in and it was dripping with exasperation, " _Really Tony?_ "

" _I know what I saw...and heard_ ," he replied rolling his eyes, " _F.R.I.D.A.Y increase the throttle by ten percent."_

The A.I. complied and with a shuttering boom he was propelled forwards. The armor prevented his gums from being pulled back and from losing his lunch after going to speeds daredevils would die for. Within seconds he was right behind 'Supergirl' as he so cleverly found out and started blasting her again.

" _Tony_ ," it was Cap this time and he sounded concerned, _"Don't you think its weird that an 'alien' would have a comn link_?"

 _"No,"_ the genius replied as he continued to shoot at the zigzagging flying woman, " _She and her pals probably murdered a couple of S.H.E.I.L.D agents and took their comns. For what reason? I have yet to find out."_

Before Steve could reply to that, Tony purposely severed the connection; he did not need distractions at this time. He and his target shot around the side of a building were several office members watched through the windows. One of his shots got lucky and she plummeted out of the sky slamming into the concrete below. The shock wave of the impact shattered several of the surrounding windows, had one or two buildings leap off their foundations, and had a couple of cars (including a sixteen wheeler truck) jump up in the air only to come down with alarms blaring. With a groan, she stood up as he landed in front of her. Chunks of concrete and pounds of dust started slipping off her shoulders onto the ground.

" _That was only at fifteen percent_ ," he said cockily putting his hands on his hips, " _Care to find out what a hundred would look like_?"

"Stop," Supergirl put her hands on her knees and started trying to catch her breath, "I'm not...the...bad guy here."

" _Sure,_ " Tony scoffed raising his hand up and readying the repulser _,"Exactly what some alien would say_."

The woman frowned as if this particular statement bothered her but she made no comment. Instead she pulled a car out of the homemade crater she made, picked it up as if it weighed no more than cardboard, and flung it towards him. He easily repelled it so that it crashed into a nearby subway entrance.

Before he could gloat about his victory, Supergirl blasted the car's gasoline storage bin with her heat vision.

" _Aww shi_ —"

He didn't even have a chance to finish the statement before the explosion sent flying into the side of the building. Tony made an indent that was going to leave a permanent mark on the wall. The concrete crumpled and cracked as he fell on his knees. With a groan he blinked rapidly as statics flickered before his eyes. Blood dripped down his face from a gash that appeared on his temple.

" _How's it going F.R.I.D.A.Y_?" he asked as the woman advanced towards him

Her eyes weren't glowing, but he could tell she was pissed. As she advanced, She pushed a nearby car to side using a 'gentle' shove that sent the vehicle screeching off to the side, as if its atomatic break system was in gear. Amazingly, the airbags didn't even go off even though the vehicle slammed into a fire hydrant.

" _There seems to be a problem with that boss_ ," the A.I replied in a voice that sounded almost...guilty?

Could Artificial Intelligence feel guilt? Before he could answer himself, music started broadcasting itself in his helmet.

 _Lollipop Lollipop,_ _Oh Lolli Lolli Lolli,_ _Lollipop Lollipop._ _Oh Lolli Lolli Lolli,_ _Lollipop Lollipop._ _Oh Lolli Lolli Lolli,_ _lolli pop *POP*_

Tony really didn't need to be hearing one of the classic Fallout video game songs blasting in his ear while he tried staring down an alien. He clapped his hands uselessly against his helmet. He hated this song. One because it was _so_ freaking annoying and two it did not match the scenario that he was in. Who the hell programed a nearly hacker proof program that played that!?

" _Lollypop, lollypop,_ _Oh Lolli Lolli Lolli,_ _Lollipop Lollipop_ _!_ "

Supergirl stopped for a moment a something close to a smirk crawled across her face. She gently accessed the comn system in her ear and reported something he could not make out to someone on the other side.

"Gah! F.R.I.D.A.Y?" he winced as he breached through another Firewall only to have another blasted annoying song pop up, "How's it going with hacking?"

He watched as the statics in front of him started bouncing around his screen in rhythm to the music.

 _Who let the dogs out? [Who, who, who, who?!]_ _Who let the dogs out? [Who, who, who, who?!]_ _Who let the dogs out? [[who, who, who, who?!]_ _Who let the dogs out?_

" _I'm sorry Mr. Stark. The algorithm preventing me from 'powering through' as you say...is beyond my capabilities."_

"Well try harder!"

He winced as the horrible sound of music was abruptly cut off and replaced by...silence. Tony straightened up and looked suspiciously at the woman who had crossed her arms.

"Well...are you going to listen to me now?" she asked earnestly, "Or is Vibe going to have to play the Star Trek theme song in your helmet on a loop until you go crazy?"

Before he could come up with a reply, a whistling red, white and blue disk slammed into her shoulder. The woman brushed it off as if she had been hit by a foam ball, but she was startled. The shield bounced off the side of a building, ricochet off a light post before returning to its owner. Steve caught it effortlessly and held it at his side.

His leather jacket had opened slightly, allowing part of his uniform to show through. There was a weariness in the old captain's eyes and he looked bothered to be out in the field again.

But he managed to get up his courage and say, "Miss...I'm sorry...but I am going to have to ask you to stand down."

"Him first," the woman jutted her chin defiantly in Tony's direction, "You second. Then I might consider it. Well I mean I will consider it." She pounded her forehead into the palm of her hand while muttering quietly, unbeknownst to the men, under her breath "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."

" _Not going to happen_ ," Iron Man grumbled propelling himself up into the air wobbling slight before F.R.I.D.A.Y repaired the damaged rocket, " _The Avengers never stand down_."

"Can't believe you have the nerve to say that after what happened," Steve muttered.

He raised the shield slightly when Supergirl whirled in his direction. Surprisingly, she did not even make an effort to attack him even though his guard was temporarily down.

"I'm not going to fight you," she said softly, crossing her arms.

She floated a couple inches into the air, bending one leg and resting neatly it against her other.

" _Then this makes this a whole lot easier_ ," Tony glanced at Steve who nodded in response.

Before the woman could react, Iron Man blasted the front of the vibranium shield which reflected the repulser blast straight into her chest. Supergirl flew backwards out into the street and slid into a parked car. She winced slightly and held her head as the two men, once reluctant teammates on the field, but now united against one target, advanced towards her.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Four Blocks Away_

 _09:42 hours_

Clint carefully pulled the arrow back on the bow string, keeping the weapon pointed at his feet. Dust had filled the sky and the streets had an eerie silence to them—all thanks to Tony and that alien woman tearing up half of the surrounding city blocks with their battles. The screams of pedestrians had already faded into the background.

As he watched...the ash fell so there was some visibility, allowing him to catch sight of the damage inflicted on the block. The archer whistled admiringly.

"So much for keeping this low key..." he sighed shaking his head.

It reminded him of the surface of the moon which he had seen in old S.H.E.I.L.D files, movies and through his older son's telescope. But the moon was not littered with pieces of buildings. Craters yes. Pillars? Not so much.

He didn't know what he was doing out here. It had been at least five minutes since he had last seen the other archer and trailed him. The hooded man had slipped into shadows of raining powder seconds after it started; he had stayed missing since then.

Hawkeye felt the hair on the nap of his neck suddenly prickle and when he turned to look behind him, he saw nothing there. Natasha glanced down at him from the jutting piece of concrete she was perched on and replied,

"I think we lost Wanda. Comns for Tony and Cap are down to."

"Crap," Clint grumbled before slinging the arrow back into his quiver, "Just what we need...nearly zero visibility and possibly no backup. And a maniac who uses a bow and arrows. That's suppose to be my _thing_."

He tried connecting to the comn link, "Where are you kid?"

" _Steve asked me to follow him...or at least before I lost contact with him_ ," Wanda replied instantly, " _I think I am about...two three blocks away from you?"_

"Well...try to find either of us," he demanded looking around, "Last thing we need is Ross seeing you. You know he hates you."

" _Feeling is mutual_."

She severed the connection or rather the connection to her was.

Clint smirked in despite of himself. For the first few weeks they were in Wakanda, he had set up a target dummy with Ross's face pasted on the front. Wanda had taken great joy in sling-shooting them into the vast jungles, or sending them up into the atmosphere—or his personal favorite, giving it to T'Challa's guard panther (the actual feline kind) to use as a chew toy. Natasha smiled faintly in response to the girl's words before analyzing the ground eight feet below her. She nimbly jumped down and jogged over to Clint.

"Let's see if we can assist Tony," she said flipping her long red hair behind her shoulders, "Something tells me the guy we are looking for is doing the same. Based off what Steve told me...this archer seems to regard this lady as a teammate."

Hawkeye nodded in response and took a step forwards before hearing a humming noise behind him. Instinctively, he nocked an arrow, pointed and fired. His arrow knocked into the one headed for his back to the side, causing both to tumble to the ground.

"You again," he growled.

The green archer regarded him with stony silence. His bow was dangling at his side and his quiver was near empty. The hood he seemed so fond of was raised only allowing the two Avengers to catch a glimpse of his face, at least half of it; the other half was enveloped in darkness. The man had a scruffy dirty blond, stubby half-beard and a pitch black domino mask covering his face. Two blue eyes glared out at them and they had anger, and sadness swimming in their depths. It was the face of a man who had done many horrible things in his life and remembered every single one of them. A sane person would have run the other way when confronting someone like him. But the Avengers were never sane when it came to danger; always putting the populace before themselves.

"I don't think we were properly introduced last time," Clint smirked as he nocked another arrow, "Name's Clint. Lady next to me is Natasha."—She glanced at him with an arched eyebrow which he ignored—"And your name is?"

" _You're about to find out_ ," the man answered in a deep, and threatening voice that sounded slightly hoarse.

"Oh...so you can talk," Hawkeye jeered, "And here I thought you were mute."

He fired an arrow which the other man knocked to the side effortlessly with his bow. The arrow clanged to the ground and skidded under a car.

" _I don't fight unarmed people_ ," the green archer nodded his head in Natasha's direction.

In response she held her arms up allowing her bracelets to spark. If the hooded man was imitated by this, he gave no indication. Instead, he twirled his bow and loaded it with one of his remaining arrows—only leaving him one to use. Clint was surprised to see one of his own being pointed at his chest treacherously; no doubt the other archer had kept it for some reason. And that reason happened to be now.

"Armed enough for you?" Natasha asked with a slight smile as she leveled both arms at his head, "Now how about you give up?"

" _Make me."_

Clint shot another arrow at him but the man intercepted it with the one he had; which happened to be the Tranqrrow Clint had shot at him during their first encounter. The arrows split each other right down the middle causing both to drop to the ground, ten feet away from their intended target.

"You're right..." Natasha cast a glance at her friend, "He _is_ good."

"Where did you get your training?" Clint gave the hooded man a dirty look, "It sure isn't from S.H.I.E.L.D."

In response, the green archer shot his remaining arrow at them. The weapon went wide, but passed close enough to Clint's neck that he felt the wind off the projectile. The shaft hit the supporter pillar of a nearby building and came to a sudden stop. Hawkeye glanced back at the arrow, smirked and turned to the archer.

"You missed," he said gleefully.

" _No._ "

The hooded man pressed something on the straps encircling his chest. They were filled with various pieces of tech that did not seem important to the two Avengers when they first met them. It was a mistake to think that.

A faint humming noise filled the air and the arrow in the support beam started quivering. Suddenly, Natasha's bracelets and Clint's bow were yanked out of their hands by an invisible force—or in Nat's case off her wrists. Both went soaring through the air and became attached to the arrow, several feet out of reach. Clint stared in disbelief at his empty hands; he had never been disarmed so easily. Natasha looked as stunned, but she quickly put both her arms up in a fighting position.

"Okay buddy...as much as that magnetic arrow is awesome...," Hawkeye pulled two nightsticks from straps on his legs, "You just made things a whole lot harder for you."

He suddenly charged and the bowman swerved in his direction in order to intercept him. There was degree of some amusement in his eyes. Hawkeye drew his arm back to deliver a punch to his face when the hooded man easily blocked it by crossing his arms in front of his face. Clint's nightsticks clanged against his bow; the sound screeching metal and vibration shock wave,made both men grit their teeth in discomfort.

The former S.H.E.I.L.D agent recovered quicker than his adversary and started trying to kick his feet out from under him. He quickly changed course midway and swung his arm around in a disarming maneuver that always worked. However, the green archer must have had experience with fighting people with Clint's degree of skill—he easily step sided. Hawkeye blinked in surprise, there was only one person that he knew who could avoid that strike, and she was not the one fighting him. Taking advantage of his hesitation, the hooded man swung his bow around and pistol whipped him in the face. Clint staggered back, slightly dazed and reeling from the powerful punch.

Natasha suddenly sailed in to join the fight and started exchanging blows with green archer. Blow by blow they met and exchanged and barely any of them delivered an injury to the other. She ducked under the hooded man's arm strike, backed up slightly, and yanked her night sticks out. The Black Widow gave the man a smirk.

In response he gestured to her with two fingers, still keeping a firm grip on his bow. She attacked him again, and the same exact result happened; he met her blows with equal blocks, and exchanged punches and kicks with her. Clint watched them out of the corner of his eye as he carefully maneuvered his way around them to see if he could extract his bow from the magnetic arrow and even the playing field.

"Your training," Natasha flipped over the archer's head and managed to wrap her arms around his neck, "I've seen it somewhere before. Where did you learn it?"

In response, the man arched his back and managed to dislodge her grip. She skidded several feet away from him trying to regain her balance before standing up. There was a faint glimmer in Natasha's eyes. Clint recognized it a sign she was about to do that they always did whenever they were in a similar situation: distract. Turning his head away from the two, he started jumping up and down trying to grab a hold of his bow. His fingertips barely grazed it, and after several attempts, he gave up with a low growl. Hawkeye suddenly spied a chunk of concrete. Casting a cautious glance at both fighters, he trotted over and started to drag it back to where his bow was.

"You talk much do you?" the Black Widow noted as she and the green archer circled each other warily.

" _Don't feel like talking, unless you listen._ "

Natasha relaxed her shoulders for a minute, confused to the man's statement. Behind her, Clint was too busy hopping up and down on his improvised stepping stool to listen. His hand finally snagged his bow, and he yanked it off along with his teammate's bracelets.

"What do you mean by listen?" she asked dropping her guard slightly.

The green archer glared at her for a moment before lowering his bow to his side. He visibly relaxed.

" _We are not here_ —"

"Nat!" Clint shouted firing two tranq-arrows simultaneously at the archer, "Watch it!"

Both projectiles shot towards the man. Natasha turned to her teammate, warning too late sprouting from her lips. Time slowed down in one's eyes. Wind gently brushed the flechings and the shafts silently wobbled back and forth as they took a path straight at the green archer's chest. But the one who saw it...saw things in space time, instead of real-world.

Out of the corner of his eye, Clint was only able to perceive a red blur with yellow electricity. It was traveling so quick, that his human eye could not make sense of it. He blinked, thinking he was seeing things.

When he opened his eyes, he spotted a man standing in front his target. The man was clothed entirely in a dark maroon suit, that covered every part of his body. His mask covered half of his face, only allowing his mouth and his eyes to stand out. Gold lines, which looked like electricity arched down his arms and legs. A long black strap crossed in front of his chest suggesting he was storing something on his back. But whatever he held, the strap did not cover the bright white circle was stamped on the front of his chest, with a golden lightning bolt gleaming in the middle of it. In both his hands on either side of his head, he held Hawkeye's arrows, still quivering from being stopped suddenly.

The archer went for another one of his arrows, but was surprised to find himself unarmed and handcuffed to a light post with Natasha next to him. Her eyes belayed the message that she was a confused and as startled as she was. Clint turned his gaze back to the newcomer and spotted his bow as well as her bracelets, just out of reach next to him. He strained with his leg towards the bow and quiver but could not reach it.

" _What took you so long Flash_?" the green archer growled as the man in red lowed his hands, still clutching the arrows.

The man smirked as he dropped both arrows to the ground and put his hands on his hips, "I ran into traffic. How's that for a badass entrance?"

His voice though young sounded garbled and disoriented. Clint squinted his eyes hoping to make out "the Flash's" face, but his facial features kept vibrating and shifting so fast it was hard to make out any features of it.

The green archer grunted, " _You're impossible. Really? Traffic? Is that the best excuse you could come up with_?"

Flash shrugged before slipping off a container stuffed with arrows off his back, "Brought you some reloads. You forgot them."

He had them snatched out of his hands without so much as a thank you. In response Hawkeye jerked forwards only to have the handcuffs stop him; still straining against his restraints to reach his bow. Besides him, Natasha was trying to pick the lock with a hairpin, muttering under her breath. She kept glancing feverishly at the newcomer before glancing back at Clint. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking.

The 'Flash' was capable at moving at superhuman speeds. A speedster. Like Pietro. A lump filled Hawkeye's throat as a memory of him holding the man's limp and battered body flashed in front of his mind. He remembered the man's last words, still filled with that irritating trouble-maker tone of voice before he collapsed to the ground. He remembered the young boy's whimpers and how he had turned the child away from the face of death and pressed him deep into his chest. The image of the battered speedster's body always returned to his dreams several nights, leaving him to wake up suddenly drenched in sweat and with an arrow nocked into his bow; pointing it at an unseen adversary that fleetingly disappeared every time he woke.

Crap...if Wanda saw him...who knew how she'd take it.

" _Flash...any word on how things are going with Supergirl?_ " the green archer now with a full quiver turned to the speedster.

"Not yet Green Arrow," the man shook his head, "Ci—Vibe told me last he heard that armor guy tried hacking into our system."

" _You mean Iron Man?_ "

"I mean the guy who has a rip-off suit of Ray's," Flash smiled slightly at his friend, "Of course I mean him. Sheesh. Who did you think I mean?"

'Green Arrow' grunted before turning to Clint and Natasha. His facial expression did not exactly change, but it softened slightly.

" _You cuffed them_?"

"Yeah," Flash rolled his eyes, "What did you think I did? Drop them off the side of a building? I'm not _that_ mean. Ten dollars says that nick in that guy's face is your handiwork" He paused for a moment before adding, "That's another you owe me."

" _God you're not going to start with that now,"_ the archer growled holding his empty bow in a threatening position, " _I don't care if we are on the same team, I promise the next time we team up I will do more than just yell at you._ "

The speedster made no comment, but his face blazed a scarlet color—almost the exact same color of his suit—, suggesting there was more behind the statement than the archer let on. Before he could speak, a voice came in through the two men's comns systems. Fortunately, they were standing close enough that Clint was able to hear what was being said.

" _Guys? You there_?"

"Yeah," The Flash answered gently touching the lightning bolts on the side of his head to activate the comn system, "I'm here. What's up?" His voice was cheerful and he had a wide impish grin on his face. It hard to picture him as being serious and his smile was so infectious that Clint had to wrinkle up his nose to stop himself from smiling.

The Green Arrow rolled his eyes and activated his comn, " _What Flash means to say is..."_

 _"I know what he means,"_ the woman responded in a tone of voice that made it seem like she was trying not to smile, " _When you two are done, I am really going to need your help over here. I'll tell you the coordinates along the way._ "

"On it," the two men replied in unison.

The Flash turned towards Clint and Natasha. The archer was surprised to see a glint of friendliness in his eyes and an almost apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about the cuffs. If I didn't cuff you he would have shot you," he said before turning back to his friend, "I can carry you there."

" _Pass_ ," the hooded man shook his head, " _You go. I'll catch up_."

"I can give you a five minute head start..." the speedster offered, "Or you can accept my offer to—"

" _Just go._ "

Clint blinked and all he could see of the man was just a dust trail with yellow lightning crackling behind it. The red blur soon disappeared off in the distance. He turned in the direction of the green archer and found the man had disappeared. A faint rumbling noise started up behind a chuck of concrete, and a motorcycle shot after the speedster. Hawkeye was only able to take a glimpse of the Green Arrow before the man disappeared out of view. Soon, even the sound of the motor bike disappeared.

A piece of paper fluttered down and landed in-between his feet. It read: IOU one Motorcycle.

"Jerk," Clint muttered slightly ticked off that the archer had taken _his_ motorcycle of all things.

There was a muffled click and the tightness around his wrists vanished as Natasha finally managed to free them from the handcuffs. He stood up and rubbed his wrists to get the feeling back. Though they had not been tightened to the requirement, they still hurt when he fought against him. Hawkeye bent down and scooped his bow and quiver up before glancing back at his teammate.

Natasha was looking down the way both men had disappeared. She had her head cocked slightly to the side and her eyes did not portray any emotion or feeling before stalking off to the sidewalk. Clint shrugged his quiver onto his shoulder, stored his bow next to it, and glanced over at an abandoned car his teammate was headed for. Nat quickly picked the driver side door and ducked under the steering wheel. After a few seconds, the engine roared to life and the whole vehicle shuttered slightly.

"Get in," she said sliding in.

Clint sighed heavily before grumpily walking around and sitting in the passenger seat. The entire car reeked of moldy pizza and gym socks; the tiny back seat housed a bag of laundry. He tossed an empty Big Gulp cup rolling around at his feet out of the window; making a perfect five point shot into a nearby trashcan before the car started off. The vehicle was ridiculously small, and the archer had to bend over and scrunch his knees up to his chest in order to fit in the enclosed space. He felt like sardine packed into a can.

"You had to pick the Smart car," he muttered as he rimed his elbow into the door, "You know I don't like stealing. The car in Sokovia was being borrowed in an emergency, so I hope this one is to."

"We _are_ only borrowing it. And what are you talking about?" Natasha briefly glanced at him as she navigated her way around debris, "You loved pit pocketing H.Y.D.R.A agents."

"Only because those creeps deserve it," he complained as he rolled the window down to look out down the street and stop feeling claustrophobic, "And I gave the cash to charity. I'm not a thief...even though my past is debatable."

She smirked at him before turning her attention back to the road. A ringing sound resounded from her pocket and she took one hand off her wheel to pick it up. After glancing at it briefly, she put it on speaker before wedging it between the stick shift and the cup holder.

" _Widow_ ," Tony's voice filtered through, " _Talk to me_."

* * *

 **Ok...I have to admit the part about Tony having two of the most annoying songs in the world broadcasting inside his helmet made me crack up. I think many of us would agree the Felicity would create something like that.**

 **Definition of *:**

 ***This actually happened/mentioned in the comics. I am not kidding. Or at least in the New 52 reboot. Man Barry is such a crack-up in there X3**

 **Oh and fun fact. Fans/Comic book creators actually revealed that Cap's disk weights about forty pounds. Imagine carting that thing around...**

 **So yes...there you have another Hawkeye vs Green Arrow; this time Black Widow included! Again I consider it a tie since Oliver had a bit of help, but fans feel free to judge who won on your own merits. Just don't kill me okay?**

 **And please...do not ask me to update or when I will update. It stresses me out since when I get busy it puts pressure on me when you ask me to update.**

 **Thank you.**

 **~Sil**


	9. Chapter 9

**I did not want to make the last chapter too long, so I split it up into two chapters. Here is the second half but not the last half of the badass superhero fight. Enjoy!**

 **Crystal- There will definitely be some issues between Clint, Wanda and Barry. I have a brief scene with Wanda in this chapter, hopefully it sticks to character. I might just have Barry indivertibly use Pietro's catchphrase, but at a later date.**

 **And yep...Tony is an idiot.**

 **BlueBonfire- Thank you :)**

 **Tenza- He probably make up this whole long apology that does not sound like one at all until he's finished monologuing XD.**

 **Also this crossover takes place after episode 14 for Flash & Arrow, and 14 for Supergirl. Hope that clears things up! :D I'm not sure if Rory has come back by these episodes, but I still will have him as a character in the plot line since he is awesome. Dig and Dinah will make an appearance :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. DC Characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel Characters belong to Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Three Block's Away from Cap's Location_

 _10:02 hours_

Wanda did not know how long she had been trudging in Steve's direction when she saw the man. She had been stumbling along, avoiding the giant chunks of concrete and overturned cars, listening to the far off sounds of Stark and the woman 'Supergirl' as they tore up more city streets. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going until she heard an unfamiliar human voice speaking in front of her.

" _What does it look like out there_?"

The voice sounded electronic and appeared to be coming from a comn system. Wanda looked up and spotted a tall man dressed completely in red standing in front of her. His back was to her and he was looking down at the street; no doubt at the destruction. He did not remotely look like a pedestrian and further solidified her suspicions when he spoke.

"Like Planet of the Apes," he said before shaking his head, "Damn it. And we are suppose to talk to them? I rather take on the archer guy and the ninja lady again. At least with them they were easier to take down."

Wanda stopped where she was and surveyed her surroundings. She spotted a block of concrete and stretched her arms in their direction. The entire piece glowed a violent red color and so did the tips of her fingers. She willed of it to float and she carefully made it float silently towards the man who was completely oblivious to her presence. He kept talking to the other person on the other end of the comn system. Slowly, and quietly she released her breath and paused for a minute. Before she could change her mind, she flung the concrete. It sailed through the air and crashed down on the man.

Or at least she thought it did.

She could only detect movement out of the corner of her eyes, a red blur. It raced away from the target place and came to a stop behind her a split second before the missile landed where the man had been standing. Gold electricity sparked from it and scorched the asphalt; a blast wind accompanied its movements. She immediately prepared another piece of ammo before she knew what she was doing. She had no idea how the man had avoided or had seen her, but she knew that he had some type of power: no doubt transportation.

"Easy there kid," the man complained putting his hands on his hips, "I'm on your side."

His face was young and pleasant looking, and he had a warm slightly lopsided grin on his face. There was something about him that reminded her of someone.

"Why won't you put the..." the man stopped for a moment and looked uncertain for a moment before continuing, "Er...car down and lets talk like civilized people?"

She eyed him warily before slowly lowering the mangled piece of metal. He nodded approvingly before cocking his head to the side to look at her. He didn't say anything and his gaze was more calculating than hostile. Wanda crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She stretched her mind out and tried to read his thoughts. She was met with a jumbled and confusing amount of words that were so blended together they hummed and sounded like a rewinding tape; squeaking like high pitch sonar. Wanda recoiled with shock and with a silent groan. Pain flashed behind her eyes and she looked up at him with a shocked expression on her face.

There was only one place she had ever seen that happen before. She had first learned about her mindreading abilities after getting into an argument and using it on him. And that person was in her brother. This man...was just like him.

"Are you okay?" he asked sounding slightly concerned.

God...even his voice was like Pietro. There was power humming behind his words and she could almost see his heart beating rapidly in his chest; five beats to her one. Wanda staggered back away from him and fled into a nearby store front. The speedster looked at her slightly puzzled. He was about to call after her when his comn link was activated and a gravely voice spoke through.

" _Let her go. We have bigger problems_."

The speedster rolled his eyes at the non-present speaker before taking a hesitant step towards the store. Wanda watched him in the reflection of a shattered piece of glass and trembled slightly, her emotions clouding her judgment. The ground at her feet rumbled slightly, and small bit of debris levitated encased in a red glow.

" _Please go away_ ," she thought feverishly, " _Please...just go away._ "

The man sighed heavily before turning and racing off into the distance, sending newspapers and other various pieces of light weight debris into her hiding spot.

Wanda shifted slightly before crawling out of her makeshift shelter. She began to trudge in the direction he had taken and wrapped her arms around herself to prevent her body from shivering.

"Petro..." she whispered, "I wish you were here. You would know what to do wouldn't you?"

She paused hoping for a response but only was answered with the whistling wind as it blew through the abandoned street.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Two blocks away_

 _10:15 hours_

"We're on our way Tony," Natasha said through gritted teeth as she dodged around a panicking taxi driver, "We are going as fast as we can without hurting pedestrians."

Clint swore colorfully as he rammed his knee straight into the side of the car, when she tore around the corner; lifting the wheels on the left side of the vehicle off the pavement for a split second. The speedometer kept climbing from forty miles per hour, to sixty miles per hour within a matter of seconds. Black Widow made the vehicle leap onto the entrance of another street and unfortunately was driving on the wrong side of the road. Cars honked and swerved to avoid her, several drivers rolling down their windows and screaming obscurities as they passed by. Upon noticing who the rogue driver was, several slammed on the accelerator and flew out of sight so quick that only their taillights could be seen in the rearview mirror.

" _Well come faster_ ," Tony's face had not been hologrammed onto the screen but Natasha could see the annoyance in every syllable, " _Cap_ — _Steve and I are holding up pretty well on our own, but this Supergirl...damn she does not know when to give in. She doesn't even appears to be hurt by whatever we throw at her. However, she is tiring but not quick enough. She's totaled my armor and I have no idea how much longer F.R.I.D.A.Y can supply me with spare parts. Not to mention_ —"

There was a loud thump over the speaker followed by the sound of screeching metal. Tony's voice was suddenly cut off and all they could hear was static followed by a dial tone. Clint and Natasha shared a confused look that was soon answered by their comns reconnecting. " _Tony is going...to have to...get back to you_ ," Steve spoke over their earpieces and his voice kept sputtering in and out; either out of tiredness or a bad signal, " _He's...a little...occupied at...the moment."_

"You okay Cap?" Clint leaned forward which was slightly risky considering that he could slam his face into the dashboard at any given time, "You sound tired."

" _Kind of_ ," the super solider admitted through intakes of breath, " _Mostly sore than...anything else. That woman...managed to dent...my shield...slightly. Its pinning...my arm down and it hurts...like the dickens._ "

"No one says dickens any more Steve," Natasha chuckled slightly as she swerved down another street that would get them to the location within a couple of minutes.

" _Oh_ ," there was a slightly pause, " _I thought...you guys...still said it."_

There was a muffled explosion somewhere off in the distance of the comn and both the archer and former Russian spy winced as the sound echoed down their ear cannels. Unfortunately, the comn link at been severed as a result of whatever had blown up. Natasha suddenly slammed on the breaks nearly hitting a car that had been abandoned and parked in front of her. Clint's head slammed into the dash board and jerked back up as the vehicle jerked backward.

Amazingly the air bags did not deploy as a result of the sudden stop. Clint shook his head to shake off the whiplash and tapped on Natasha's knee, "Let me off here. I'm going to climb to the top of that building." Glancing into the front mirror, he made a face before rubbing at the manufacture logo of the car which had appeared on his forehead.

Natasha bent over to peer through the window in the front of the car. Following the archer's index finger, she spotted a ten story building overlooking the rendezvous point. It looked completely undamaged unlike some of the surrounding buildings. Another muffled boom vibrated their entire car and made the windows hum. A wire thin crack appeared in the glass and arched downward almost like a lightning bolt. Dirt flew up in front of them, and a tiny speck—no doubt Tony or the flying woman/Supergirl, more likely Tony—flew up into the air and hit another building sending down a spray of debris. Natasha shook her head to shake off her daze and turned to Clint, "Are you _sure_?"

"Positive," he replied opening the door, "I can at least give you guys cover fire when I need to. Especially when that archer and speedster show up."

Natasha looked at him uncertainly but allowed him to go. Only after her friend disappeared out of sight, did she get out of the car herself and jog in the direction of the explosions.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:20 hours_

Kara was really starting to get annoyed. She rarely got annoyed. But after getting blasted into the ground for the umpteenth time in a row by a blaster, her patience was wearing thin.

" _I'm really starting to hate this guy..."_ she muttered under her breath in Kryptonian.

She dug her fingernails deep into the concrete below her. The cement cracked and her fingers disappeared into the road. With a loud yell, she upheaved a chunk of pavement the size of a city bus and flung it straight at the man in armor. Iron Man deflected with no problem and her missile exploded into thousand tiny pieces. Debris rained down and his companion, a man with a large shield covered his head with it. The man had learned the hard way of what happened when he got to close to her and now would circle around before lunging in and darting back out. His shield was slightly dent from when Kara had managed to land a punch, but amazingly it was not that severe suggesting that whatever metal is was made from was quite strong.

However, she could tell she had managed to pin it against its owner's forearm by the way the man winced as the fragments struck it. She sent a silent apology to the man under her breath as she floated up in the air to glare at Tony Stark.

" _You don't know when to give up do you?_ " he asked crossing his arms.

She glowered at him, "I'm still not going to fight you. Don't you ever listen?"

" _No,"_ the man responded nonchalantly before firing off another blast from his repulsers.

It smacked her right in the chest, but at this point the Girl of Steel was used to his weaponry. She brushed it off as if it were no more than a laser and cracked her neck. She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at her adversary. "Come on. I'll let you hit me just this once."

Iron Man hesitated no doubt remembering what happened the first time he had punched her. While he was distracted, Kara blasted the ground around his feet with her heat vision, causing the man to sink up to his ankle's in melted asphalt. He cursed loudly as he tried to pry himself free but to no avail. Seeing for the moment one of her attackers were taken care off, Kara landed on the ground and turned towards the other man; Steve or as Tony called him Cap. He seemed to be the one with brains and would hopefully listen to her.

The captain raised his shield in her direction and glared at her with grim determination. The man had more courage than she gave credit for initially. She cocked her head to the side and allowed her body to visibly relax. Steve watched her suspiciously and lowered his shield about a quarter of an inch. For a split second his eyes trained off her and instead were focused behind her. Kara heard someone's breathing and turned in time to get knocked to the ground by a lithe woman. The woman was dressed in a black jumpsuit that completely incased her arms and legs. Around her waist was a belt with a red buckle in the shape of a hourglass, and she was armed with two nightsticks strapped on her legs and two pistols on her hips.

Kara grunted as her attacker twisted her arm behind her. It didn't exactly hurt, but it did feel uncomfortable. The woman pressed harder into her restraining move, and it took a lot for Supergirl not to throw her off. She wanted to let them know that she meant them no harm.

With a loud cracking sound, Tony managed to blast his way free from his restraints forming a deep pothole in the street. He stamped the extra asphalt out of his gears, his armor creaking, " _I've been trying to knock her to the ground all this time and you managed to do it in three seconds Natasha?"_

"You thought throwing half of the city block at her was the way to do it?" the woman 'Natasha' asked with an arched eyebrow.

"And a supporter beam," Kara added using her free hand to hold her index finger up for emphasis, "As well as five cars, a tour bus, and a fire hydrant." In the far background a light post that had been slightly melted by her heat vision, keeled over and smashed into a parked vehicle; sending a fine spray of quicksilver from the broken glass.

She winced slightly as the grip on her arm tightened. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the woman gave her an admiring look and there was faint but grim smile on Steve's face. Tony mean while was annoyed, " _Whatever. At least I didn't get an exploding arrow up my nose like Clint. Where the hell is he anyways?"_

"He's around," Natasha nodded, "Better not say anything thought."

Kara wiggled slightly, trying to get free so she would be in a better position to talk. Her captor however grabbed her free arm and twisted it around to join her other one, "I'd stop moving if I were you."

Supergirl scowled slightly, knowing how disappointed Alex would be if she could see her at the moment. This was a move her sister always loved using on her during sparing sessions. She knew how to disarm people who used it on her but was uncertain if the move would make these people less willing to listen to her. Also...she didn't want to harm them.

" _Hey_ _Supergirl_ ," a voice leaked through the comn link into her ear cannel; she immediately identified it as Cisco's, " _Ya might want to get ready_."

"You got to me kidding me," she muttered, "I had this handled."

" _No offense girl but um...it doesn't look like that to me."_

"Who are you talking to?" Natasha leaned closer to her in order make out what was being said.

Before she could alert her teammates, there was a faint whistling sound. Tony barely had time to intercept an arrow that came straight at his face. He caught it and examined it with disbelief, " _Uh oh. Clint whe_ —"

The arrow exploded and completely incased him in a crackling block of ice before he could finish his statement. It was quite hysterical to see the man frozen in such an absurd position—two hands pointed straight in front of him like a robot. Instantly, both Natasha and Steve turned their attention in the direction of which the arrow originated. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Kara arched her back and grabbed a hold of the woman. She flipped her onto her back and twisted her to the ground, taking care not to hurt in her the process. Natasha fought vigorously to free herself, but Kara pined her down easily with one arm and glanced up at a truck next to her. Oliver stood on the top of the vehicle with another arrow at the ready.

" _Hope I'm not too late_ ," he commented dryly.

Kara couldn't help but grin as she threw her hair onto her back, "You're just on time."

Steve blinked in surprise and threw his arm back as if to throw his shield—why Kara had no idea—before a red blur laid a solid punch on his chin and part of the shield, causing the man to stagger back clutching his jaw; his shield ringing like a gong. A dazed look came into his eyes. It would have been impressive had Barry not started shaking his hand side to side while yelping, "Ow. Ow. Ow. That hurt. Crap!" The speedster clutched his knuckles and winced as he tried to get the feeling back into his hand.

" _Stand down_ ," Oliver's voice was menacing enough that even the Girl of Steel had a shiver go down her spine, " _If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead already_."

"Doubt it," Steve shook his head and looked in amazement at Barry who looked back at him questioningly. The man took a step forward as if to rest his hand on the latter's shoulders. Or at least where Barry had been standing. The speedster dodged out of the way—no doubt suspecting the move was no good natured in the least—in a swirl of red and gold and came a stop just to the left of Green Arrow.

"Do we have rights to say something?" he asked, "Or uh...should we just remain silent?"

His voice belayed just how troubled he was by something. Before Kara could think anymore of it, she was well aware of Oliver mentally face palming and heard Cisco snickering into the comn link, " _Good Lord Barry. I don't think they're going to read us our Miranda rights here_."

Unfortunatly before anyone could answer, the ice encasing Tony melted and he blasted two shots in rapid succession no doubt instinctively; one in Kara's direction and the other in the speedster's. She was harmed when it struck her, but Barry was not as fortunate. The blast hit the ground at his feet and sent him sprawling over the top of a car nearly fifty feet away as well as slamming him into a pillar. With a groan he hit the ground and was knocked to near unconsciousness.

"Flash!"

Taking advantage to Kara's temporary diversion, Natasha wiggled her way free and managed to sting her with a pair of electric bracelets incased around her wrists. Both women started to exchange blows, the super powered one withholding her full strength to prevent injury to the other. While they were busy, Tony fired a shot at the archer who leap off the truck in time before it blew up. He tumbled into a roll and came up standing.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:22 hours_

It was a good thing he had his suit installed with micro heaters, otherwise he would have been a popsicle. Tony wondered how in the heck the hooded man, or 'Green Arrow' had managed to get a hold of cryorrow (an arrow that expelled freezing cold liquid that froze on contact). Clint had tried for months and months one year without success—and ended up turning the entire lab into a meat freezer. Before he could marvel over the scientific genius of it, he was already melting the ice.

It was hard to see through the crystals on his eye pieces, but he was pretty sure he saw a man punch Cap in the face that wasn't there at a split second earlier. He was only able to make sense of a blur that flew across the pavement at inhuman speeds in order to stop Steve from flinging his shield.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" he asked suspiciously.

" _On it boss._ "

Before his A.I. finished her scan, the ice had melted and the pre-charged blasts fired off. One hit Supergirl who hadn't been at all jarred by the blast. The other hit the man who was dressed completely in red. Tony managed to correct his aim at the last second so that it hit the ground instead of his chest, but the explosion was no less impressive. The man was sent sprawling backwards and was slammed right into a supporting beam. The genus was only able to catch a glimpse of a lightning bolt insignia in the center of his chest before the man slipped out of view.

Tony quickly fired a shot at the archer before he could rearm. The hooded man leapt off the truck before it exploded and came up standing; using a move so professional it was easy to see he had been in similar situations. Steam wafted up from his suit, suggesting that the repulser blast had came too lose for comfort.

" _Scan cannot be completed_ ," F.R.I.D.A.Y buzzed pleasantly, " _I am sorry sir._ "

Iron Man waved off the apology and clanked up to Steve who nodded curtly in his direction, "Tony."

" _Steve...that man who was standing next to you_ ," Tony turned to Cap who slammed his shield against a lamp post in order get the dent out. The light post caved in and with a loud screech bent over and crashed onto the pavement , " _Was the ice messing with me or did he just..._ "

He couldn't complete the statement.

"Yep," Steve nodded his head, "You weren't just seeing things."

" _Oh_ ," Tony sniffed slightly, " _If he weren't the bad guy, I'd feel bad for shooting him_."

He turned to the archer and lifted his hand up, repulser charged and ready to go.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:33 hours_

" _Vibe_ ," Oliver muttered as the armor-clad man advanced as well as Steve who had finally managed to slam the dent out of his shield, " _Now would be a good time to show up_."

" _But the guantlets are barely working,"_ Cisco said with worry, " _Without them I can barely_ —"

" _You can do it Cisco_ ," Oliver paused for a moment to fire two arrows at both men who easily deflected them, " _You are easily one of the most powerful people I know right up with Kara and Barry. If anyone can control their power its you_."

There was silence for a moment before came the surprised reply, " _Did Oliver Queen just give a complement?_ "

" _Don't get used to it_ ," the archer grumbled.

He held his bow up to stop a blow from Captain Rogers who had leapt up into the air and came down with the edge of his shield. The metal rang out with a clear bell like tone and shattered the windows in a nearby store front. Surprisingly it had not been dented even though it had just struck titanium/promethium alloy. Oliver swung his bow around and had it stopped a mere inches from Steve's face by a glowing red cloud. No matter how much he struggle, it did not move forward or backwards. Turning his head, he spotted a young woman perhaps in her early twenties standing in the middle of the road. In-between her hands was a glowing red ball that pulsated. Her face was a mask of concentration and twitching her right hand, his bow was yanked out of his hands and thrown off to the side. She lowered her hands, and the red light faded.

"Good job Wanda" Steve nodded approvingly as he held his shield up in front of him.

The girl nodded curtly and glanced off in the direction Barry had disappeared. Her eyes were watery and her bottom lip quivered. Before Oliver could figure out why, Steve struck out at him and he had to defend himself with a series of moves that he had learned from mixture of people; Ras, Slade to name a few. Iron Man looked as if he was wanting to join in, but had Natasha thrown into him by Kara who had finally disentangled herself from the woman. He caught her with a grunt.

" _How about we trade dance partners?_ " he offered as he released her before turning to the newcomer, " _Wanda, you are with me._ "

The girl nodded solemnly and shifted uneasily. Natasha who was more vocal, gave him a grin in return, "Gladly."

She charged at Oliver's blind side but he interpreted her move in time and blocked her with his right hand. His arm quivered from the blow that was blocked but he used his free hand to lay a punch on her rib. She winced slightly and twisted out of the way in time before he could do more damage. The gauntlets around her wrists sparked as the suit lit up with an vibrant cobalt blue, and she managed to swat him on the chest. Electricity painfully shocked and arched through his body. He gritted his teeth and reeled back away from her clutching the injury with his right hand. Smoke steamed up his uniform, but the Kevlar absorbed most of the strike leaving his body unscarred. Steve circled around him warily with his shield up, but he didn't say anything nor did he attack.

"Did that hurt?" Natasha asked with slightly mockery.

Oliver looked up and glared at her. Meanwhile Tony had his hands full with Kara who was living up to the term 'more powerful than a locomotive'. She had her arm out and was effortlessly holding the man back with just her index finger. He kept trying to power forward, driving deep grooves into the pavement no doubt swearing behind his helmet. She yawned as if bored and examined the fingernails on her other hand. Wanda was plummeting her with pieces of levitating concrete but had no effect on her. Beads of perspiration were scattered across her forehead, but she continued to push herself to the limit of trying to overcome the Kryptonian.

"I can do this all day you know," Kara snorted before turning to Oliver, "I don't like you shooting people in this case I think I won't mind."

" _I rather not_ ," he tilted his head so he could eye her as well as the two attackers who were circling him, " _We have to get them to listen_."

The Girl of Steel nodded slightly, and 'gently' pushed Iron Man so that he slammed into light pole. Wanda shrank back when the Kara turned her attention on her and scrambled away holding her hands up as if to ward off a blow. Steve suddenly slammed down with his shield, and Oliver rolled out of the way before it hit his head; turning his attention away from his friend. He came up standing and cast a hesitant look at his bow. Between him and it was the woman; Natasha. She flipped her hair to her back and stood defiantly in the way. He growled in annoyance, " _I'm guessing you are not going to just stand there and talk_."

"I'm not," she answered coldly flickering a pistol out of the one of the hostlers on her hip.

She shot at him, aiming for his legs no doubt hoping to cripple but not kill him. Oliver felt strong hands wrap around his waist and whisk him out of the way before they hit him; feeling all of it in a period of a time it takes an average human to blink. He materialized behind a Daily Bugle News delivery truck that was parked on the street and had miraculously survived the carnage around it. The archer was barely able to contain his nausea and had to squeeze his eyes shut in order to stop the world from spinning. Opening them, he saw Barry standing next to him, his legs shaky like a newborn colt. The speedster was leaning to the right side and was favoring his ribs, but managed to clap his hand on the archer's shoulder.

"Sorry," he gasped, "Couldn't...run...that straight."

Oliver huffed slightly and was not surprised to find his bow back in his hand. He peered around the corner of the truck; nearly having his hood shot off by a carefully aimed potshot by Natasha. Fortunately, he yanked his head back in time. The archer stifled a curse and glanced at Barry.

"Stay here," he growled and upon seeing the man's defiant and determined look added, "You are injured and will continue to hurt yourself unless you _stay_ here."

"I'm the team leader," Barry said stubbornly, "And I'm not going to sit this one out."

He took a step forward, had his face flush with pain before he moaned, "Ohhhhhhhhhhh...or maybe I should..."

"You do that," Oliver nodded at him curtly before launching an exploding smoke arrow around the corner. While his attackers coughed and were temporarily blinded by the smoke, he dashed into the street in order to assist Kara.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:40 hours_

Barry hated having to sit this out. For one it made him helpless, and second he was suppose to be the one leading. Some team leader he was...

The speedster winced as he limped forward. His busted ribs screamed in pain, but he had experienced worse. He got as for as the passenger side window before his legs gave out. He collapsed against the door and gasped a couple of times to catch his breath. Through his comn link, he could hear his teammates talking.

" _Was that Barry_?" Kara's voice sounded ragged but she still managed to have a level voice.

" _Yes_ ," Oliver answered before the whistling sound of two arrows being shot off made him pause," _He's going to be out of commission until his ribs heal. Until then we will have to see if we can convince these people to listen._ "

" _I hope he gets back on his feet soon_ ," Kara paused for a moment, " _He's the best negotiator. No offense, but you really don't know how to convince people how to stand down._ "

The archer grumbled in annoyance but didn't protest or deny her statement. There was a muffled explosion in the background and Barry withdrew from the link. He allowed his breathing to steady before re-connecting. Apart from hearing Oliver curse a blue streak when he almost had his head taken off by the giant, flying Frisbee and Kara blasting someone with her heat vision, there was nothing else helpful. The speedster cursed quietly under his breath and staggered to the backend of the truck in order to peer warily around the corner.

The entire street was totaled and there were several street signs that were missing. Oliver was playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the woman in black and the man who was sprouting an America/Patriotic motif through his leather jacket and on the shield he kept carting around. Barry saw Iron Man getting thrown back as if being blasted by a cannon and spotted Kara holding up a _No Entrance_ sign. She was playing some absurd form of baseball with the chunks of cement that were being thrown at her by the women sprouting a red jacket. Her face was a mask of concentration and her eyes flared a shade of red each time she launched a rock at Supergirl. Barry was still unnerved by how she had reacted to his speed. The amount of anguish on her face was nothing like he had seen before. It looked as if he had killed someone in front of her.

" _Supergirl_?"

Barry shook his thoughts off and turned in Oliver's direction as his friend shot off another arrow towards 'Steve'. The man simply held up the shield over his head and had the projectile shatter on its surface. Before the speedster could start fawning over how powerful the metal was, Kara's response woke him up better than if someone had doused his face in cold water.

" _Oliver_ ," she said landing heavily on the street and putting her back to Oliver's as they watched the four members converged on them, " _I don't know how much longer I can hold up. There is only so much I can take_."

The archer looked at her abruptly, " _What?!_ "

" _Even I have my limits_ ," Kara admitted putting her fists up with a grimace _, "At my top strength I would probably be able worth three...five people. Now...worth one and a half_."

" _So its only two to four_ ," Oliver grumbled, " _Great_..."

He lifted his bow and leveled it at Iron Man who lifted his arm allowing the blaster in the center of his palm to glow.

" _Stand down_ ," he said, _"You are outnumbered badly five to two."_

In response to Tony's statement, a black arrow whistled out of nowhere and imbedded itself into the concrete at Kara's feet. Barry realized the archer—Hawkeye not Oliver—was somewhere around here; no doubt in a higher location that he could not see. He grimaced and realized that these people were not going to listen, even if they gave up. As he watched, the woman in the black jumpsuit leveled her two handguns and cocked back the safety.

" _Don't hold back_ ," Oliver's voice echoed in his head, " _Especially against me_."

Though the advice had been directed at Kara, it did not mean he could apply it to himself. Lightning crackled through his irises, turning them gold temporarily and the pain in his side was temporarily forgotten as his adrenaline fired up. Barry shot forward and weaved in between the four 'Avengers' taking care not to hurt them. Though he was sorely tempted to punch them all and get it done with, he knew that there was strength in numbers. But in this case, numbers with no substance.

He started bouncing back and forth as fast as he could, leaving behind speed mirages in front of the four members. No one could see things the way he did, and to them it looked as if there had been four additional versions of the Flash in front of them. The advance stopped abruptly, in hesitation to attack when there were suddenly 'new comers'. Barry twisted and turned and the afterimages mimicked whatever movement he did. Unfortunately, he did not know how long he could keep it up; already his side started to throb again.

" _Barry!"_ Kara's voice came in and it was a mixture of relief and amazement, " _What are you doing?_ "

"Giving them something to fight," he muttered quietly as he made one mirage thrust a punch at the unexpecting Iron Man.

A piece of concrete suddenly flipped up in front of him, and he immediately realized the woman in red had something to do with it. The rock was glowing a faint red color and floated slightly. It became caught between his legs. He instantly tripped over it and landed hard on his shoulder. He tumbled head over heels before slamming into a nearby parked car at five hundred miles per hour; leaving behind an impressive dent and causing the vehicle to nearly tip over. The speedster groaned and couldn't move from the vertigo inducing position he was in. Everything was literally upside down and swimming before his eyes.

"Tony," Steve said bluntly as he eyed the speedster from a safe difference, "What..."

" _That would be something called..._ " Iron Man stopped as if considering something, " _Well...I don't know exactly. I just know he was running so fast that he left after images of himself. So I simply told Wanda where he would be next and she tripped him."_

"Speed mirage," Barry muttered under his breath.

"As if our life will not get more complicated..." the woman in the black jumpsuit huffed.

" _You know what Natasha_..." Tony started to say.

The girl in the red jacket locked her eyes onto Barry's. Tears sparked in the corners of them and her bottom lip started quivering. Trying to avoid her gaze, the speedster grunted in pain as he rolled onto his side, "Ugh...I am going to feel this tomorrow." He staggered to his feet and hobbled over to Oliver who looked at him downright murderous.

" _I thought I told you to stay put_ ," he growled flipping another arrow into his bow.

Barry rolled his eyes and was rewarded with a flare of pain in his head, "They were about overrun you. Sue me."

Before he could say anything else, Oliver a launched an arrow right at the Steve whose eyes widened before lifting his shield. The woman—Natasha or whatever her name was—guns fired off and from his perspective he saw the bullets track their way towards them. Before he could grab a hold of the bullets, a vibrational wave struck them and shattered it into millions of useless pieces. The speedster skidded to a stop as the gunshot echoed across the buildings. He abruptly turned his head and spotted Cisco standing off to the side wearing his gauntlets and vibe glasses. The broken lens was still flickering and he was out of breath, but that didn't stop a grin from crossing his friend's face.

"You stormed the castle without me?" he asked.

* * *

 **Poor Wanda. I'm cruel...but...I think we can agree this is what her reaction would be upon meeting another speedster (even if that speedster is not her brother and is rather awkward). And I know that the Avengers are being quite stubborn with** ** _not_ listening to what the DC heroes have to say...but remember that they aren't really trustworthy with anyone including each other. **

**Oh and in case you were wondering,** ** _why_ Ollie's bow was not shattered by Steve's shield, it is because it has Promethium alloy in it. In the DC verse, it is one of the strongest metals, like Vibranium. I don't know for sure if he really does have it, but I wanted to put in here to make it more fun.**

 **~Sil**


	10. Chapter 10

**I decided to start this chapter with our friends back on Earth 1. They've been neglected too long. Then its back to the action! Enjoy.**

 **Sorry it took me a while to update. I've been working on drawing up a comic of my own. Needless to say...I have a new respect for comic book artists!**

 **Shout Outs**

 **Crystal-I will be sure to have a moment with Clint asking Cisco how to make those arrows XD I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

 **Amy-I agree. But if Kara did that I think Tony wouldn't be able to speak without a high pitched tone of voice for the rest of his life.**

 **Tenza-Thank you. Sorry...but it does take me a while to update chapters because of my schedule.**

 **Guest- Thank you :) It may take me one to two weeks to update. Sometimes it may be quicker based on how quick I can type the chapter out X3**

 **Guest (2)-Future chapters will clear it up. But I can tell you, Tony is acting this way since he really does not want to show weakness to the newcomers.**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC Comic Book characters belong to DC Comics/CW. Marvel Characters belong to Marvel comics and Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Prime: Location_ — _Team Arrow's Hideout_

 _10:40 hours_

* * *

Rory hadn't even known he had fallen asleep until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder to gently shake him. He grumbled slightly and swatted at the person in order to over on his side. He suddenly tumbled off the railing with a loud crash and sprawled out on the floor. Above him, Catlin looked apologetically at him, the power repressor necklace gleaming against her neck. Apparently, she had come back from Central City to help out in the search effort again.

"Sorry," she winced, "You passed out for about six hours. Felicity told me to wake you."

He yawned and squinted his eyes to look at her against the blinding glare of the overhead lights trying to groggily make sense of where he was. Resting his eyes on the empty mannequin that Oliver used to store his uniform, jarred his memory. He grimaced and accepted Catlin's hand as she helped him to his feet, "Just when I thought what happened to the team was a nightmare..."

"Unfortunatly no," Felicity's head popped up from under the desk and her hair was a complete mess, "Well I mean yes its a nightmare considering I haven't been able to track them the past four days and the monitor decided to crap out on me. And Curtis is out getting some food considering we haven't eaten for thirty-six hours accept for some stale, moldy bagels and five day old instant coffee. Thea is trying to tell the press that Oliver is going to be out of town for a few days or that he is ill...can't remember which. And Rene...well...Catlin was needed to stich his knuckles and she sent him to rest at his apartment with a free lecture to boot. He may be crazy but he isn't _that_ crazy to stand up to Catlin when she's in charge. Dinah is in the other room screaming and blowing up targets to blow off some steam...don't go in there unless you're wearing earplugs." She pushed her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and ducked out of sight again.

Ragman stared at her in amazement that she had said that statement rather quickly and almost all in one breath; suggesting she was highly caffeinated.

"He squirms more than Barry," the doctor muttered straightening out her skirt.

Rory looked at her curiously, confused by why was comparing his friend to the speedster who seemed to be pretty tough (and _awesome_ ). But she said nothing, only gave him a tight smile and walked over to Felicity who wordlessly held up a long cable. Catlin took a hold of it wrinkling her nose up as she did so, "God...the number of times Cisco had me do this..." Rory joined them quietly and stood behind her quietly, folding his arms neatly together. He watched as Felicity crawled under the computer table and literally jumpstarted the computer with a spray of sparks. It caused the lights overhead to flicker rapidly and one or two of them blew out. She shrieked and jumped back as the computer started up, the lights stopped blinking.

A breath was let out and Rory did even know he was holding it. He glanced down at a stack of paper piled on the top of the table. A gleam of metal sticking out of the bottom caught his eye. Frowning, he reached out and slid a small disk about the size of a half dollar out. In the center was a glowing blue light and had three thin 'branches' of metal that went out and attached to another ring of metal.

"What is this?" he asked holding it out to Felicity who was sitting in her chair again.

Her eyes widened behind her glasses and she snatched it away from him. Resting it on a scanner next to the computer, she started typing rapidly into the computer.

"What," he asked his brows furrowing, "What is this?"

"Before Supergirl...Kara left our earth, Cisco gave her something that allows her to easily travel between our two earths and communicate with us. An inter-dimensional extrapolator," Catlin answered shrugging, "Or something like that."

"If this is the device," Felicity interjected without looking up, "We can use it to possibly track them, and open up an breech allowing them to come back. That is if they are on Earth-38."

"And if they aren't?" Rory asked softly.

He saw Catlin fidget out of the corner of his eye. Around her neck, the power reducing necklace gleamed a brighter pale blue color as if in response to her nervousness.

"Then we will have to contact Supergirl's allies. The DEO or whatever they are called. Barry's pals with them...or at least he says he is."

"Oh," Rory nodded before frowning, "But how does Barry know them?"

Catlin grimaced, "He didn't exactly say much about them...but what he _did_ say was that...we can trust them."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:40 hours_

* * *

Cisco still was on cloud nine with Oliver's compliment that he almost missed the block his friends were held up on. He arrived in time to see the speed mirage Barry had cooked up. Still unsure of whether or not charging out of the pre-paid and _safe_ hotel room (which he had to run back to halfway to the locations, drop off the laptops, and pick up a spare comn), he stayed back taking cover behind a minivan; and also to catch his breath from running all the way. He eyed the characters that had sprung up in front of him like from a comic book. His hands itched to sketch out better ideas for their costumes and shout out nicknames that suited them (even though they already had code-names).

As he watched, Barry literally materialized out of no where and slammed into the car he was crouching behind. Fortunately, the vehicle did not tip over, though the window nearly shattered. Cisco clamped a hand against his mouth to keep himself from screaming. His heart was beating so fast from the sudden jump scare and his heavy breathing was so loud, it was amazing that Barry didn't even hear it. Peeking cautiously over the edge, Cisco spotted his friend groaning and resting upside down from the sudden stop. He watched as the man with a giant thrash can lid, painted with the good old red, white, and blue coloration, lower it and stare in amazement at the downed speedster. Cisco prayed that he wouldn't be spotted, but luck was on his side; the four 'Avengers' attention were trained on Barry, Oliver, and Kara.

"Tony," the man said in astonishment as he scrutinized the speedster, "What..."

" _That would be something called..._ " Iron Man stopped as if he was unsure of what to say before continuing, " _Well...I don't know exactly. I just know he was running so fast that he left after images of himself. So I simply told Wanda where he would be next and she tripped him."_

"Speed mirage," Cisco heard Barry mumble under his breath almost as he were cursing.

"As if our life will not get more complicated..." the lithe woman in the black jumpsuit grumbled.

" _You know what Natasha_..." Tony started to say before getting cut off by a glare.

The girl in the red jacket locked her eyes onto Barry. There was an odd look in her eyes, something Cisco could not place. He shuffled nervously in his hiding spot knowing that sooner or later he would be noticed. He heard his friend grunted in pain as he rolled onto his side, "Ugh...I am going to feel this tomorrow." Barry staggered to his feet and limped over to Oliver. If looks were deadly, the speedster would have been injected with enough venom to kill fifty elephants.

Cisco couldn't help but smirk as he carefully placed his vibe goggles on his face. He switched it on and felt the familiar jolt as the tech connected to his cerebral cortex. The left lens was still busted, but he had repaired it so it was somewhat functional. Unfortunatly its light was still faded. The right lens was completely repaired and able to be used. His gauntlets on the other hand were an issue. He had been able to repair them so they could blast off several shot, but only a limit before they spontaneously combusted. Or died on him. He preferred having them die on him. It was rather hard to open portals with burns on your hands.

Carefully, he slipped onto the street and started walking towards his teammates, clenching his fists to keep them from sweating. His friends nor their attackers had not noticed him. Even Kara didn't, and it was probably because of the glaring contest she was having with 'Natasha' prevented her.

" _I thought I told you to stay put_ ," Oliver growled nocking another arrow into his bow.

Barry rolled his eyes and winced as if he were in pain, "They were about overrun you. Sue me."

Cisco watched as Oliver allowed an arrow to twang out of the bow. He watched as the woman in black shoot her handguns straight at the unexpecting archer. Barry rushed to intercept the bullets, but even the tech genius knew it was unlikely if he would catch it in time. So he lifted his hand and shot off a single blast of vibrational waves muttering one word under breath that seemed right in the moment.

"Accio!"

The bullets shattered. Literally. The second Cisco's shook wave struck the projectiles, they exploded as they had vibrated too much for their molecules to handle. So in less scientific terms, he made them fall apart as the 'magnetic' bond between them were shattered. He blinked and spotted Barry standing about three feet in front of Oliver looking at him shocked. In fact _everyone_ was looking at him startled. It was hard to tell what Iron Man's face looked like, but Cisco had a pretty good idea of the expression on the man's face.

He couldn't help but grin, "You stormed the castle without me?"

His statement broke the spell, and he almost had his head blasted off by one of Tony's repulsers. Oliver yanked him out of the way in time, shoved him behind him, and immediately started firing arrow after arrow at the four people in front of them. Barry appeared next to him, shook his head and arched an eyebrow, "Princess Bride? Really?"

"Would you rather I say a Harry Potter spell?" Cisco smirked, "Oh wait...I think I did _before_ I blasted those freaking bullets. I got to say that was aw—"

A blast that exploded next to them made cut Cisco off. He jumped and Barry flinched as if he had been struck. Above them, Kara shot off a blast of heat vision before disappearing out of sight, Tony soon chased after her. Oliver meanwhile glowered at them, " _You two done 'geeking out' as you say it_?" He barely avoided a strike from the woman Natasha who would have given Sara Lance a run for her money; the skills she had was unprecedented. Cisco held his hand up, and blasted the woman backwards taking care not hurt her. She slammed painfully into a light post and landed on the ground with a pained grunt.

He cursed as the gauntlets started to heat up and make mechanical sounding clicks in protest. Barry eyed them and his eyes were as wide as saucers, "Those are not suppose to be smoking." His voice was not at all questioning the steaming tech.

"Of course not," Cisco grumbled as he felt the temperature go back down, "I repaired them so that they can fire off about five shots. I only have four left...hopefully. Three if we are lucky."

The speedster grimaced, "I'll go with the hopefully. Try to see if you can manage to get one of them to at least listen."

He sped off causing his friend to take a step back to avoid a whiplash. Cisco grumbled as he turned towards the woman wearing the red jacket, " _Try to make them_ _listen_ ," he said mimicking Barry's voice before switching back to his own, "If they don't listen to you of all people, why would they listen to me?"

The woman looked at him and held her hands up. But she was not surrendering. Pieces of debris flew up in the air and floated, glowing with a dark maroon light. She gave him a dark smile and flickered her fingers towards him. He hollered in surprise and dove to the side as chunks of rock imploded the ground where he had been standing. " _Telekinesis,_ " he thought blowing his hair out of his face, " _Sure...why not. Would have been nice to tell me that before racing off Barry._ "

Cisco hoped that he could somehow get through to her, but had a feeling the speedster would have been the better candidate to handle her. Unfortunatly, he had his hands full with Steve and whatever his last name was. Barry skidded to a stop in front of the man, "Um...look. We are not the—", but was cut off by the super-solider drawing his arm back and flinging the shield resting on his forearm. With a faint humming noise it streaked towards the speedster. Barry yelped and bent backwards quickly. He watched as the disk past over his chest in slow motion before slamming into a nearby wall once he jumped back to a normal person's speed. To his surprise, the shield bounced off it, ricochet off a lamppost before retreating back to its owner. Steve jerked the shield down in front of him and looked at the speedster in mild surprise.

Barry took off before he have another chance to throw it. As he weaved between his teammates, trying to chase after Kara to assit her, he spoke, "T-t-that shield dified the laws of physics!"

" _You defy the laws of physics_ ," came Oliver's grumbled reply.

The wind coming off Barry caused every single loose and light piece of debris to fly everywhere and get entangled in _everything_ as he raced down the avenue rapidly gaining on the two people he was after. A newspaper plastered itself on his face. With a muffled sound of protest he yanked it off and threw it to the side; all without skipping a stride.

"I'm an exception," the speedster complained as he raced partially up the side of a building, "I move fast enough to do it. Seriously though...anyone _else_ unsettled by it? Newton's Third Law apparently does not apply here! You know...the one that states...'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?'"

He leapt off it and tried body slamming Iron Man who streaked under him. It was a long shot considering he would be hitting solid metal, but he needed to draw the man's attention off Kara until she was able to regain some of her strength. Barry slammed into the man; ramming his elbow into Tony's back and temporarily making him wobble midflight. Grunting as he tried to keep his balance, the speedster tried covering up the man's faceplate to prevent from targeting the Kryptonian. Attention diverted, Tony rolled over to shoot him cursing rapidly under his breath. Before he could, the speedster nimbly leapt off and hit the ground running making sure to zigzag in order to prevent the man's targeting system from locking onto him. Iron Man turned his attention fully on Barry who started to lead him on a high speed chase all over the city.

They went into the Lincoln tunnel where motorists honked and swerved to avoid Tony and the red blur with yellow lightning crackling off it. Tony had to blink rapidly in order to catch a glimpse of the man who kept looking over his shoulder occasionally as if to make sure he was been trailed. If he lost his train of focus for one moment, the man melted into an indistinctive smudge of red and gold; F.R.I.D.A.Y was already having difficulty to bring him into focus. Iron Man shot off one shot going by sight; powerful enough to stun but it would not destroy any of the vehicles if he hit them by accident. The speedster nimbly avoided it as it created a giant pot-hole in the pavement and raced up the side of the tunnel. He started running on the ceiling as if to prevent any more shots from being taken at the motorists...which was weird.

He was eye to eye with Tony who glared at him from behind the helmet. The speedster was running backwards and he somehow managed to cross his arm; acting like it was a causal everyday ability. His features though young, tightened slightly in annoyance, "Are you going to just blast me? Or are you going to listen? Because...we kind of need to tell you something." In response, Tony charged up his repulsers causing the man to sigh heavily in disappointment, "Guess not." Before Iron Man could shoot him, he had stopped abruptly and dropped to the ground below. The speedster weaved between the pedestrians who had now stopped their vehicles and were fleeing from them. Tony gritted his teeth and forced his suit to pick up a loud blast of air both men shot out of the tunnel and started back towards the area where the others were located.

" _F.R.I.D.A.Y_ ," Tony groused as his targeting system tried to zero in on the speedster and failed again and again, "Can you finish that scan _now_?"

" _Sorry sir. 'The Flash' is moving to fast for my program to keep up with him and finish analyzing him and his powers_ ," the A.I. said before adding, " _Power at forty-four percent and dropping_."

Tony said a very rude word in response, and reluctantly cut off his pursuit; knowing that there was no way he would be able to keep up with the speedster without using up all the power in his suit. After seeing the man effortlessly dodge Steve's shield and Natasha's bullets, he knew he was out matched. He watched as the red streak disappeared into the distance and out of view.

"Great...now all I need is that woman to attack me," he grumbled to no one in particular.

Something slammed into him suddenly and knocked him to the ground. Concrete filled up the helmet eye sockets and completely blackened out his view screen. Sputtering he brushed the chunks of rock out of it and winced as blood dripped down his face as the wound reopened. Statistics flickered weakly in front of him and a wire thin crack appeared on the viewing screen. The power level of the suit sudden whirled down to a thirty percent capacity. Without even looking around, he knew who had been responsible punching him into the concrete. "Sometimes...I really hate my job," he muttered.

He struggled to his feet and glanced up at Supergirl who had her hands out in front of her. She had an apologetic look on her face, "Sorry. Sorry! I didn't mean to tap on your shoulder _that_ hard." She paused as if considering something before asking, "Please. I don't want to fight you. Listen. We are not your enemy."

Tony groaned slightly only hearing half of what she said and clutched his forehead as a spark of pain shot through it. It was hard to concentrate...and everything was blurring in front of him. There was a ringing noise in his ears. His statics screen started to scroll with binary code as some outside influence started to hack into his system. Which was impossible. No one could hack into his system!

" _Sir...there appears to be a slight interference with whrr...shgi..._ " the A.I's voice grinded to a halt. Tony bent over as it became harder and harder to stay conscious. He knew that the woman's punch had not been responsible...but rather was something...or someone in his suit's system. As he blacked he tried to call a warning out to the woman but only managed to whisper it before losing unconsciousness.

" _Watch out_."

Fortunately, Kara had sharp ears. She frowned as she landed, "Watch out for what?"

She leaped back as the man who had fallen to his knees got steadily to his feet. His eye sockets light up as the suit restarted despite the damage it still received. Lifting his hands up he prepared another repulser blast, this time increasing the power of the blast to fifty percent.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _10:40 hours_

* * *

Oliver was really starting to hate that he had finally met some people as stubborn as he was—excluding Barry, Rene, and Kara at the moment. The Avengers were really up there with the obstinate level Felicity clearly stated that he had. Especially the man who was named Steve Rodgers.

The archer had a clear view of the captain from his perch in an old and rusted out fire escape. Steve had fortunately not spotted him yet, but the man still had his large shield held out in front of him. Oliver sighed quietly through his nose; a exhale of breath that was so quiet that he was the only one who heard it. What the hell was he doing? Normally he preferred to shoot his target, cripple them, and then get out before the cops showed up. But...this case was different. The target happened to be another person like himself; someone who defended the public and put them before himself.

Green Arrow gritted his teeth as he watched the man's reflection from the dirty, cracked window besides him. His own likeness stared back at him, and he was startled to see a worn out expression on his face. Had he ever had this on his face at times when things did not go his way? Oliver gritted his teeth and shook off his negative thoughts.

He wavered his options for a moment, before nimbly leaping to the ground behind the man. Though he landed quietly, Steve must have had keen ears. For the second Oliver's boots hit the asphalt, the captain had his shield lifted and his legs spread in a defiant stance. The archer silently lifted his hand up with all five digits spread, and slowly placed the loaded arrow back into his quiver; using both his index and middle finger. He gently placed his bow on the trashcan next to him, but kept it close. He trusted the man's merits but not to the point of foolishness.

Steve narrowed his eyes and slowly lowered his shield to the side though his stance did not change. The archer eyed him stonily, battling against his instincts to shoot him. Instead he spoke, " _I am not going to hurt you_."

"Should have said that the first time you showed up buddy," the super solider answered, though not unpleasantly, "Let's cut to the chase. Who are you people?"

Oliver managed to pull his lips back into a small tight smile; his cheek muscles aching from unfamiliar expression, " _You wouldn't believe me if I told you_. _Perhaps once your friend stops chasing mine, we can all get together and talk_."

God...if the others heard him doing this...

"And why should I trust you?" the captain asked suspiciously.

" _Because I'm trusting you at the moment_?" Green Arrow grumbled indicating his bow, " _I'm judging you based on your morals. And from what I heard...you have plenty of them_."

There was pregnant silence. Steve seemed to deflate as he straightened up. He slowly placed the shield on his back watching Oliver the entire time through his movements. The archer didn't move and made sure not to waver his gaze. The super solider crossed his arms and picked his head up so that he looked taller, "You aren't from around here are you? _"_

His tone sounded suspiciously, and Oliver got the feeling the man was testing him; he obviously knew more information than he was letting on. Well two could play at that game.

" _No_ ," he nodded slowly, " _We're not_."

He straightened up to appear more intimidating than he already was. The itch to grab his bow and shoot it was slowly fading away, albeit it was lurking within the back of his consciousness.

Steve stared at him and asked carefully, "Why did you attack us _?"_

" _Your friend fired the first arrow_ ," the archer growled putting his hand behind his back as his fist tightened, " _And that tin robot attacked my friend_."

"Who attacked him back."

" _Who was defending herself_ ," Oliver jutted his chin out and struggled to keep himself from snatching up his bow as the instinct returned; his internal warning system pinging in his ears, " _Consider yourself lucky she didn't kill him. She is easily more powerful than your entire team combined. We are not here to fight you. We are here to_ —"

" _Oliver_?" Barry's voice came in over the airwaves, " _You might want to cut the conversation short. There's trouble on Columbus Ave._ "

" _Like what_?" Oliver turned his head away to hiss into the headset, hoping that Steve would be too polite not to eavesdrop, " _I'm almost getting through one of them_."

" _Wait...you actually didn't shoot him!?_ "

" _Flash..._ " the archer said warningly.

" _Ok, ok_ ," the speedster said uncomfortably, " _Let's just say Kara and Tony have taken the term remolding to a whole new level_." There was a large explosion in the background, " _Gotta go!_ "

The comn link severed, Oliver turned back to Steve who hadn't budged. The archer shuffled slightly and said, " _Perhaps this is time we make a truce. Unless we get your friend and my friend to stop fighting, Manhattan is going to be flattened._ "

"Pax," the captain nodded before asking curiously, "Was that your speedster friend?"

" _Yes_ ," Oliver asked suspiciously, " _Why do you want to know?_ "

"No reason," Steve looked uncomfortable for moment before smiling grimly, "I better go with you so Natasha doesn't shoot your head off." His expression changed to hostile for minute, "But after this is done...you turn yourself into us. This doesn't make us friends."

Oliver grunted before picking his bow up and dangling at his side, " _Of course it doesn't_."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _11:01 hours_

* * *

Natasha winced and held her head as she sat up. She was well aware of Wanda shaking her shoulder, "Nat? You okay?" Widow blinked rapidly as the sunlight streamed into her eyes causing her pupils to contract painfully; all her senses suddenly coming back to her. With a groan she got to her feet. Her face was scratched up, she had numerous purple bruises on her jaw line and her head was throbbing solidly like a drum. The only thing she could recall was being blasted by something similar to a loud sound wave coming from an electrical guitar at a rock concert (which she experienced on one of her past missions when tracking down a teenage hacker with a fetish for hacking the Pentagon).

But as far as she could tell, she had no broken bones of which to speak of. She glanced back at Wanda whose face was dirty and grimy from the amount of dust swirling around. Her hands were glowing red, the pupils of her eyes pulsated with the eerie color.

"What happened to guy who hit me?" Natasha asked.

In response, Wanda pointed off to the side. The Latino man stood there with his hands up in the air. At his throat was a jagged piece of metal illuminated in a glowing maroon cloud; part of a bumper of a car that had been sheered off. He swallowed hard—the ball of spit visibly going down his throat. The goggles he was wearing glowed slightly, though for some strange reason the left lens was dim. Natasha scrutinized his face, as it looked pretty familiar. He was wearing a heavy black jacket than came down to his hips and gauntlets. They looked similar to something Tony would make, though much cruder in appearance. Seeing them looking at him he took a step forward only to be backed up into the wall by Wanda's floating weapon.

"Hey...Poltergeist lady," he complained, "Does the signal 'hands in the air' mean _anything_ to you in this universe!? I'm trying to tell you something and instead you go all Carrie on me."

Natasha shared a confused look with Wanda. Why was the man sprouting off common movie references? He tried inching forwards again, slowly lowering his hands.

"Take one more step," Wanda warned flickering her hand so that the metal came within an inch of his throat, "And you'll find out what happens when you don't listen to my instructions."

"Yeah," he croaked out bending his head back so his neck was exposed, "I think you've made the point."

Natasha rolled her eyes and connected her comn link to their archer, "Where are you Clint?"

" _I'm in the eagle's nest_ ," came his response, " _But unfortunately, I don't have visual on the hooded guy, nor the speedster, nor the flying lady...nor the flying tin can or the three thousand year old fossil..._ "

"Tony went after the woman," Natasha said, "The speedster—" she cast a look at Wanda who looked away from her, "followed suet. I don't know where the archer went...and Steve's also gone."

" _How's the kid taking it_?" Natasha didn't answer and instead bit her lip in response. There was about a five second awkward pause before Clint said, " _Forget I asked_ _. Look...I'll keep an eye out and I'll alert you to anything I see that is suspicious. Hawkeye out_."

With a blip, he disconnected. Widow sighed heavily and lowered her hand from her ear. She glanced at Wanda and nodded. The girl lowered her hands and the piece of metal dropped slightly so it was at the man's chest instead of his throat. He visibly relaxed and let his breath out as if he had been holding it. Natasha stalked over to him and crossed her arms to glare at him, "Alright. So you wanted to talk. Now talk."

The man laughed nervously, "I-i-i-it's rather funny. Err—you kind of remind me of someone. Though she much scarier considering she used be a master assassin and all that—"

"Who are you?" Natasha interrupted, "And I'm talking about _all_ of you."

"Can I ask for a lawyer?" he asked taking a step to the side. A black arrow whistled through the air and pierced the concrete sidewalk in front of him. Elsewhere and high out of sight, Hawkeye twirled another one into his bow and muttered, "Don't even think about it."

He leaned casually against the side of an air conditioner and sighed. In the distance, he could see plums of black smoke from where fires had been started from both the flying lady and Shell Head, turning the city into their own personal play pen. The archer knew exactly what clean up was like since he had dealt with it on a much smaller scale...three...and soon to be fours times.

"This isn't something to joke about," Natasha snapped below him out of his hearing range, "Now tell me who you are and why you are here."

The goggled man sighed, "Ok look. This may sound absolutely insane but I swear I'm telling the truth and bet my working HP wand on it. We—." Suddenly, he cut himself off and his eyes glazed over. Shuttering he fell against the wall and his mouth hung open. Natasha raced up to him and quickly checked his pulse against his neck. It was erratic and uneven, and she could almost hear his heart beat as it increased. Wanda hovered anxiously by her side forsaking the sheet of metal which clattered to the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked thinly.

"He's having a stroke," Natasha muttered gently turning the man's head to the side, "I think. Whatever it is I have never seen anything like it before."

Almost immediately after it begun, whatever ailed him left. The man clutched his head for a moment and let out a low moan. A trickle of blood leaked from his nose and started to drip onto the concrete. He sniffed and wiped it away. For a moment he stared at it before leaping suddenly to his feet; his expression wild. Natasha scrambled back and stood up, with one of her handgun cocked and loaded. Wanda shrieked and the metal instantly rose back to the man's neck. He threw his hands up in the air and started babbling something so fast that Natasha only got every third word which sounded like "have building now" and beginning with something along the lines of "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra."

"Slow down...and start from the beginning," she said interrupting him, "Starting from...who the hell are you?"

Wanda swallowed and looked uncertainly towards her friend and the man who started sprouting Star Trek quotes. She edged away slightly from him but kept the metal near his neck.

"W-w-w-we don't have time!" he stammered, "Y-Y-you have to tell y-y-your friend to get o-o-off the building _right_ now!"

"What?"

"The archer," he continued feverishly, "Hawkguy? Nighthawk?"

"You mean Hawkeye?" Natasha asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes!" he shrieked, "Whoever is on that building has got to get off _now_. Something bad is going to happen in about three minutes!"

Black Widow looked at him shrewdly, "Like what?"

"He'll die!"

Before either she or Wanda could fully digest that statement, Steve appeared on the scene with the hooded archer standing several feet to the side of him. She immediately stood up and pointed her handguns at the hooded man who reached for his quiver. Cap glanced at him warningly suggesting that the two had made some sort of agreement. The man pulled his lips back in a silent snarl before dropping his hand to his side. Steve turned to Natasha, "Until we get Tony and—"

" _Supergirl_ ," the archer grunted.

"—To stop...we have...a temporary truce."

Natasha eyed the Green Arrow warily. The man gave her a hostile look in return before muttering something under his breath. Steve turned his head abruptly; and hooded man repeated his statement though louder and clearer, " _You have our word we will not hurt any of you, nor anyone_."

"And how do I know if your word is true?" she asked through gritted teeth.

He lifted his head and looked at her square in the eye allowing her to catch a glimpse of his entire face, " _As the saying goes, 'to trust, is to verify'."_

It took a moment for the former Russian spy to digest this particular statement. She nodded slowly and holstered her guns, clicking on the safety as not to accidently shoot herself in the leg. Wanda looked anxiously between her and Steve, before swallowing hard. Slowly, she lowered her arms and the jagged piece of metal clanged to the ground. Natasha glanced up at Clint's hiding place and extended her arm high above her head, pressing her middle and ring finger against her palm, before pointing to the Green Arrow; signaling her teammate that the man was under a flag of truce.

The hooded man nodded slowly as if he were pleased before turning to his apparent companion who was creeping forward towards him slowly; keeping his distance from Wanda, " _Vibe._ "

"Ok, before you turn me into a pincushion," the man babbled holding his hands in front of his chest as if to protect himself, "I swear I tried—"

" _What were you talking about?_ " Green Arrow asked roughly though not unkindly, " _You were saying something about someone dying_."

Steve turned abruptly to Wanda, "Someone dying?"

She nodded slowly, "He's delusional. Goggles here—"

"V-V-Vibe," the man answered in a trembling voice.

"—Thinks that something bad is going to happen to Clint in the next few minutes," she said crossing her arms, "Which is impossible. The building is secure or so Natasha says...right?"

Natasha looked up at the building critically with her eyes narrowed. She prepared to activate the comn link, hoping that she putting her faith in a complete stranger's prediction would not end up badly. Before she could, there was a loud explosion above them. The woman, Supergirl nearly crashed into the ground in front of them; correcting her plummet an inch from the ground. Tony shot off another blast that was so powerful that it knocked him onto the ground as his energy level plummeted down to two percent capacity. The clank of his helmet against the asphalt jarred him awake. Sputtering he tried to regain control of his suit, not paying attention at all to the destruction he had just inflicted with someone who was invulnerable.

Supergirl slammed into the supporting pillar of the building knocking down all but one of the supporter beams. A low rumbling sound started to growl, and the earth shook as twisted pieces of metal and debris crumbled to the ground. At the very top, Natasha caught a glimpse of Clint trying to hang on to the edge of the building as it tumbled down but was clutching at nothing but air as his bow was no longer in his hands. She tried to force her feet to move, but it felt as if they had become anchored to the ground. Wanda thrust her hands up in order to slow the debris, but a chunk of concrete sailing through the air caught her on the forehead.

Instantly she crumpled to the ground, only to be caught by Steve who was looking up at the falling debris hopelessly. Tony was still out of it and Natasha heard herself screaming at him to wake up and do something. Time seemed to slow down as the building imploded.

That was when something raced past her, the wind of the projectile moving so fast that she staggered forwards. Steve lifted his shield to protect his face and the hooded man turned as a red blur flew towards the crashing building. His mouth was open and he appeared on the verge of yelling something. However, someone beat him to it.

"DON'T DO IT!" the goggled man screamed after the streak, "YOU WON'T—"

He was cut off as the building flung deadly shrapnel towards them. Natasha managed to unfreeze her feet and yank him out of the way, throwing him behind a car. Seconds later the hooded man leapt over as well as Steve who had Wanda draped over his shoulder. Dust blew out the windows and the was a wailing noise as it whipped around their makeshift shelter. The sound was deafening, and the only sound Widow could hear was...nothing. She heard absolutely nothing until the last pillar fell. And then all she heard was the sound of her own screaming as she ran towards the building.

* * *

 **...**

 **Yeah...please don't hate me for that. Hawkeye and Barry didn't die. Or did they?**

 **And the plot thickens. You will see why the suit malfunction was intentional. Until then, please don't crucify me.**

 **Also Nighthawk is a Marvel villain who is basically an evil version of Batman though Marvel version.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So I'm not dead and the story can be continued. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter though it is no where as long as the last cliff hanger. Or maybe it** **is...**

 **Guest (Daicar)** — **Yes. The evil cliffhanger. Forever beware its presence XD Sorry...but I wanted to say that.**

 **BlueBonfire** — **Thank you :)**

 **Sameen** — **Thank you**

 **Tenza** — **You are going to have to wait to find out to our favorite speedster and Marvel archer. :) I can't provide spoilers for you guys else the entire story is ruined.**

 **Andrea Frost** — **Thank you**

 **Velocity9000** — **Don't worry...there is more**

 **Crystal** — **Continue to read on to see if they live**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW channel. Marvel characters belong to Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Manhattan_

 _11:20 hours_

* * *

Steve could not believe it. Clint...

He couldn't complete the thought as he gently laid Wanda on the top hood of a destroyed car. Hands free, he angrily slammed his shield into the asphalt cracking it. The metal rang softly like the chimes of a bell, but to Steve it sounded like to peals of a funeral ballad. Tears glimmered at the edges of his cheeks and his body trembled from both grief and rage. The last time he had ever felt this much pain was when...Bucky. He tightened his grip on the handles of the shield so hard that his knuckles cracked from the pressure.

Green Arrow stood astride of the Captain looking at the building. His expression was shocking, it looked as if he had suddenly had twenty years drained from his face. His face was as white as a sheet and for an absurd moment, it looked like he was about to keel over. Instead, the archer suddenly broke into a run and joined Natasha in throwing back the stones that covered the street. They completely ignored each other's presence, and instead focused on the task in front of them.

"So help me you're freaking dead," he muttered as he rolled a piece of concrete to the side even though to came dangerously close to his toes, "I swear to God if you are dead...I will find a way to bring you back so I can kill you myself."

With a start, the super solider realized that the man was no longer speaking in that gravely voice of his, instead using a normal low one that trembled with tears below its tones. Slowly, Wanda opened her eyes and blinked groggily before her eyes widened.

"Clint..." she whispered sitting up from her reclined position, "God..."

Steve only had enough time to distance himself from her before three cars around him exploded. Literally. Waves of red light emanated from her body causing the gas tanks in the vehicles to rupture. Oddly enough, the one she was on had not been destroyed.

He turned away from Wanda as she folded up into a smaller form as herself as tears cascaded down her cheeks; another build up of her power starting to expand around her. There was a sudden rumble as a humongous chunk of stone rolled away from what remained of the bottom of the building. Natasha and the Green Arrow sprang back as a shower of stones rolled down the pile. A thin human form appeared at the top, and limped down towards them. It was Supergirl.

Her uniform was ragged and torn, and her hair was an absolute mess. There was a faint line of blood at the corner of her mouth, which she whipped away. When she spoke her voice sounded hoarse and broken.

"Where is...he?"

It took a few seconds for Steve to realize she was talking about the speedster. The hooded man slowly shook his head in response, there actually tears in his eyes. Supergirl's face fell and she looked down at her feet. She was trembling, and she hugged her arms as she approached them. A faint noise behind Steve made him turn his head. The Latino man had his goggles dangling at his side and his eyes were moist. A gentle breeze slowly stirred and blew his hair into his face; a face so familiar that Steve instantly recognized it.

It was the man he had bumped into...twice. But somehow...he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it. As he watched the man turned to the others and shook his head, "I...I could've stopped him."

"No one could have Cisco," the Green Arrow muttered, "It would be like trying to stop a damn bullet train."

"I...vibed this would happen," 'Cisco' wailed nearly dropping his goggles as he stomped his foot, "I tried to—"

The gravel crunched under the archer's boots as he headed towards the man with both his arms outstretched, no doubt intending to grab him and shake him or perhaps strangle him. Steve found himself instinctively turning to block the archer's attack, but someone beat him to it. Supergirl stepped in front of Cisc and kept the two separated. Though she was clearly weakened, she managed to hold back the full blown rage of the hooded man.

"You knew this would happen and you didn't even bother telling us!?" he hissed as he tried pushing back the woman's arm, "Why didn't you tell him?" He tried walking around, but Supergirl used her other arm to block him. The archer gave up with a growl of disgust and took the opportunity to glower at the other.

"I...tried," Cisco crumpled to his knees and dropped his goggles in the dirt. Tears were running down his cheeks as well as from his nose "He...he wouldn't listen."

The Green Arrow seemed to deflate and appeared to be a hollow form of himself. Slowly he detached himself from Supergirl's arm and wandered over to the rock pile. He looked down at it.

"Supergirl," his voice was barely audible, "Did you—?"

"Yes..." she swallowed hard as tears started to flow freely, "I couldn't see anything under that pile. Within all probability they are probably—"

"CHECK AGAIN!" the man roared slamming his fist into a nearby parked car denting the metal on the door, both Supergirl and Cisco flinching from the noise. He slid down and fell on one knee, as he grieved silently.

Steve looked at Natasha, who despite having tears in her eyes, nodded. Slowly, he approached the hooded archer, making sure to keep his shield at the ready.

"I am going to have to ask you to come with us," he said respectfully, "Its not safe for any of us to be out here."

The Green Arrow glared up at him and pulled himself up to his feet. When he spoke there was venom in his voice, "If you think I am going to just leave my teammate's body here without paying some respect to it...then you should just leave." He turned and was instantly knocked out by Steve slamming his shield into the back of his head.

"It wasn't up for debate buddy."

Though Steve likewise had similar ideals about trying to find Clint's body, he knew that if they stayed any longer they would be arrested. Already, he could hear military helicopters and trucks approaching. Silently, he nudged the unconscious archer's body with his boot. He turned to Supergirl who had her arms resting on Cisco's shoulders.

"Miss...I know this isn't the best time to ask this," he said with as much respect as he could muster, "But I am going to have to ask you to come with us."

She swallowed hard. A neck muscle tightened and the captain got the feeling she was deciding between fleeing or fighting. Behind him, Natasha tensed up and Tony groaned from somewhere under the crumpled remains of a car. But to Steve's surprise Supergirl nodded her head, the motion so faint that he only caught a glimpse of it, "Yes...sir. Come on Cisco."

Carefully she lifted the Green Arrow's body onto her shoulder as if the man weighed no more than doll and trudged towards Wanda and Natasha. She silently allowed them to handcuff her with a glowing red twisted metal pole and a gun to her back. Cisco followed, his head down. Steve could clearly hear him sniffing and resisted the urge to comfort him.

There was the sudden sound of tearing metal and Tony suddenly limped up to him. He lifted his helmet allowing black smoke to billow out. His entire face was blackened with soot and was a riot of cuts and bruises.

"Had..." he coughed spiting out a glob of bloody spit, "To fry my entire system."

Seeing Steve's icy glare he stopped, "Cap...what is—"

Instead of answering him, the super solider retrieved his shield from where he left it. Lifting it like the sword in the stone, he placed it on his back and walked towards the alleyway which would take them back to the tower. Tony followed, his gears squeaking with each laborious step he took. He didn't know what had happened. All he knew was...that something had happened to Clint...and apparently it was his fault.

But he hadn't shot off a repulser blast...right?

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Ruined City Block of Manhattan_

 _12:30 hours_

* * *

Sergeant Jack Farmer hated the press. He hated the Feds even more which was ironic considering he worked with them.

Being here...after this...big battle or whatever it was, made him want to walk away since there were government agents crawling all over the ten block blocked perimeter. It made him question his decision to get out of bed this morning, as he was standing next to the biggest SOB of them all. He watched as his supiror inhaled a deep dreg of his cigarette as men wearing black suits, and dark sunglasses, scrambled around picking up random pieces of debris. To the Sergeant, they looked as common as a pebble one might find on the side of the road. To the general...well...it meant so much more to him.

"How many dead?" General Ross asked in a tone that made sound like he had no particular sympathy for the people who had just witnessed something close to World War III.

Jack managed to cough away the scathing retort he had prepared for the man he did not particularly like, "No casualties sir. Miraculously, if you ask me." He paused to see if Ross would inquire about the injured. When he didn't the Sergeant continued on his own accord, "Three hundred wounded. Five critically. There could have been more had it not been for that...red guardian angel people are describing."

"You mean the Spider-brat?" Ross practically spat the word, along with a wad of burnt paper and tobacco onto the dusty pavement. The liquid soaked up the pulverized concrete and gave off a sulfurous smell.

Jack had to count to the count of three before responding. He was actually rooting for 'the Spider-brat' after the vigilante had pulled his wife and five month year old son from a burning building, "No sir. It wasn't Spiderman. It was someone else."

"Who?" the general pitched his cigarette to the ground and grinded it under his heel, "There are practically vigilantes coming out of the woodwork since Sokovia and the arrest...and escape of the former Avengers. I've gotten reports of a strong guy who is invincible, a man with a glowing yellow hand, a woman who would have given the Black Widow a challenge, a man wearing devil horn's protecting Hell's Kitchen, and most recently some man who can defy the laws of physics with 'magic'."

"Reports say..." the sergeant cut himself off as a strange feeling came over him. Humans didn't have a sixth sense...but sometimes it felt as if he had an internal warning system. Right now...it was pinging like crazy. Why would the general want to know about the new comer? He already had tabs on most of the vigilantes...or at least what S.H.E.I.L.D gave him access to; which was not much.

"Doesn't matter," Jack answered before saying jokingly, "Sound more like Iron Man to me."

Ross turned and stared at him square in the eye, "Son. Withholding information from me is punishable for insubordination. Now tell me...who was the man in red?"

Fortunately, an agent hurried up to them, saving Jack from perhaps giving away vital information, "Sir. I think you might want to see this." The name stitched across his chest read 'Ramirez', "Civilian cell phone video."

The said 'video' had horrible quality. The pixels were grainy and the sounded muted, almost as if the noise was being recorded underwater. However, Jack managed to spot several grainy images of a woman with a red cape, pulverizing a piece of city block thrown at her by Iron Man. A man wearing a dark green leather hood, shot a single arrow into a kink of Iron Man's armor forcing him to bend over with a mechanical groan.

"This is epic," a boy's face suddenly appearing on the screen, someone in his teens with bright cubby cheeks and wearing a T-shirt that read 'Hans Solo', "This is the best day of my life!"

There was a sudden rush of red filling the screen, and the next second the owner of the said video tape was standing on a completely different street, surrounded by confused and startled civilians.

"Did you guys freaking see that?" the video tapper asked in a high pitched tone, "Did you guys freaking see that!?"

The tape suddenly cut to black. Jack saw Ross's face deep in thought, "What did the individual who video tapped this say what happened?"

"Nonsense really," Ramirez admitted, "Wouldn't stop shrieking and babbling about someone teleporting him to a safer location."

"I would like to interview this individual myself..." Ross glowered, "His name?"

"Ned. Ned Leeds or something," Ramirez shrugged, "Unfortunately, he's already gone and pleaded the fifth. You're not going to get anything out of him."

"Very well," Ross sighed in exasperation, "Sergeant Grey." Jack immediately stood at attention wondering what in the hell Ross was going to get out of him, "Speak to this...Mr. Leeds and report what he says back to me."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Queen's apartment_

 _12:00 hours_

* * *

"You got to believe me man!" Ned pleaded over his cell phone. He frowned as he listening to the speaker on the other end, "No. I have not been eating too much sugar. Turn on the news." He paused again, "If you knew about this happening...why the heck did you not do anything about it? It was like Transformers vs Deceptacons downtown...except without the giant robots."

This time the speaker's voice was barely audible, "I couldn't sneak out of the house! Aunt May practically followed me everywhere and even put padlocks on the windows. What am I suppose to do?"

"Duh. Pretend you were in your room studying and then sneak out!" Ned blathered, "Come on man. You need to get over here ASAP. You really need to see this."

"Like you made me go over there when you hacked Call of Duty so that all the enemies were only wearing their boxer shorts?"

"That was only one time!" Ned squeaked, "Come one dude. Seriously. I need you to come over here—"

The phone went dead. Ned punched his friend's number back into its memory, only to get a dial tone. He sighed in exasperation and clanged the phone down on its charger. Slowly, he meandered over to the kitchen and pulled a banana out of the fruit basket. Carefully, he pealed back its skin and prepared to take a bite out of it.

"I prefer apples myself."

A man's voice startled Ned and he spat out the mutilated pieces of fruit before he could choke on it. There was a tall man wearing a pair of Terminator sunglasses leaned against the kitchen table. He was lean and looked very much like Jason Borne, that was until he removed his sunglasses. His one eye was icy and indistinctly unfriendly, while the corner of his mouth twitched slightly in amusement. The other looked like it had been torn out by a psychotic hamster; though an eye patch hid it well.

"Didn't mean to startle you," he apologized, "May you take a seat?"

Ned must have looked like an idiot when he started stammering something incoherent. His guest apparently took it as a yes, for he pulled a chair up at the kitchen table and folded his arms neatly across his barrel chest. They stared at each other for sometime.

"Er...can I help you?" Ned desperately wished his voice didn't sound so high pitched upon meeting the leader of S.H.E.I.L.D.

Fury snorted as if the statement was hysterical to him, "Its been a long while since I've been asked that son." He reached over and plucked a single bright red apple from the fruit basket, "Tell me...were you in the down-town area earlier today?" He waited for a time and upon receiving no answer, asked it again, "I'm going to ask you one more time and I hope I get an answer better than radio silence." Fury took a large bite of the apple and chewed the mouthful nosily, spraying juice onto the tile floor. Ned swallowed.

"Uh...so here's the thing Nick..."

"Do _not_ call me that."

"Sorry...err...I think you got the..." Ned trailed off when Fury banged a laptop down on the table and turned its screen towards him. It showed in all its glory that blasted video tape. Ned hated himself from posting it. One since it pissed Peter off, and two...well...if it made it on the nightly news, his mom was going to ground him for the rest of his life. Or at least until he was eighteen. Which was one of the reasons he had removed and scrubbed its existence as best he could from the world wide web.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. intercepted this footage before it was deleted partially," Fury turned to look at him with his good eye, "And deleted fully by my team. Now tell me...what did you see?" Seeing that the boy was not going to answer, he added, "It would be in your best interest to tell me. If someone else gets ahold of this tape, you'll find they'll be much less patient than I am."

Ned knew when he was beaten. Sighing, he awkwardly sat in the chair next to the S.H.E.I.L.D leader, "Ok fine. I was in the Manhattan area, doing some extra credit project. Then there were explosions and fighting and people panicking...I think I saw Iron Man...and possible Captain America which was totally awesome and now I can actually—"

"I get the idea," Fury's face glowered at him, "Get to the point please."

"I video taped it...I mean the fight between whoever," Ned offered lamely, "Then something...or someone grabbed me. Next thing I knew...I was three blocks away."

"Three blocks away?"

"I don't know what it was," Ned shrugged, "I only got a glimpse of it. A red blur or something."

Fury sat back looking thoughtful. After a moment, he stood up and plucked something from underneath the table. Carefully crushing it between his fingers, he pitched it and the apple core into the trashcan. He stood up and dusted apple crumbs off his coat, "I suppose you expect me to thank you." Ned looked at him hopefully, and then disappointed when the man continued, "But I won't."

Very carefully, Fury bent over and glanced at Ned in the eye, "I would remain...very quiet about this if I were you. Very."

Ned nodded frantically as he stalked over to the door and opened it. He then called out, "Sir?"

"What?" The door was already halfway closed.

"Are the..." Ned swallowed before continuing, "Avengers back?"

There was a slight pause, and for a moment it seemed Fury had vanished. But, he still spoke, "Yes." Another pause, "I'm only telling you this because you are friends with Peter Parker. Tell him it would be best to hang up the webs for a while, until things cool down. If the Avengers are really reinstated, then Ross is going to give them hell. And anyone working with them."

"How..." Ned began, but by then Fury was gone.

Feck. Peter was going to kill him.

* * *

 **Very short chapter. I know...I'm evil. You guys don't know what happened to Clint or Barry yet.**

 **Sorry about that...but...come on the last chapter was massive enough. I don't like to rush stories and need to spread it out in several chapters. Originally the opening part of this chapter was to be part of the previous chapter. But since I could expand on it, I wrote an entirely different and chapter :)**

 **Trick Question for you guys:**

 **How would Tony Stark and Steven Strange react to each other?**


	12. Chapter 12

**I know it a brief voice cameo of our favorite Web-slinger's voice last chapter. Hopefully I can make room for more appearances.**

 **Crystal** — **You might find out what happened to our favorite archer and speedster in this chapter :) No spoilers**

 **Guest** — **They were both exhausted. Oliver has less endurance than Steve because of the super serum, so he tired easier. Also...Oliver was 'blind' to his surroundings after Barry 'died'. Grief does that to a person.**

 **Guest 2** — **Sorry for not updating in a while. Hope this is one of the scenarios you came up with :)**

 **Tenza** — **You'll find out soon enough :D I'm evil, but not that evil**

 **Amy** — **I'll be sure to explore that in a future chapter ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot: Flash/Arrow/Supergirl characters belong to DC/CW and Marvel Characters belong to Stan Lee/Marvel comics.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avenger's Tower_

 _19:30 hours_

* * *

"I'm going to ask you again...who are you and why did you come here?" Steve's voice made Wanda flinch. She had never heard the captain use that tone before or even becoming this angry. Clint's death had impacted them all, so it was no surprise it had even changed the super solider.

But apparently The Flash's death had likewise done the same to his teammates.

The Green Arrow glared at them menacingly and did not speak. They had been only able to cuff him to the wooden chair before he regained consciousness; unfortunately before they could take his mask off. It had not been an easy task as the archer fought like a demon before they managed to tie him up; the effort had not gone without injury, Tony had received a swift kick to the shin which was less than he deserved. Wanda wanted to use her power to tear his suit off him and throw him down the elevator shaft every time he looked at her. It was because of him that Clint was dead.

Supergirl shifted uneasily the chair they had set her up with. Around her wrists were electrified handcuffs specifically modified to resist her incredible strength and durability...or so Tony said. She had compliantly accepted their terms and had likewise had not said a word and though she was clearly still grieving, she did not allow this emotion to show around them. Cisco on the other hand was so miserable that even Natasha had been hesitant to cuff him. But he quietly insisted that they should, so they did, however using the traditional handcuffs the police used.

"Very well..." Steve paused, "I'll let you talk _privately_. Five minutes. I hope that you will have something to say when I get back otherwise we might have to do something...I'm hesitant to do."

Silently, he stood up and Wanda followed him quietly, allowing the break off of his sentence to leave behind a sense of foreboding. She cast a sympathetic glance at Cisco who was seated cross-legged on the floor with his hands in his lap. He didn't notice, but it made her feel better...slightly. Carefully they trudged up the stairs and entered the balcony. Steve rounded the corner and headed into the meeting room—improvised in Tony's workshop overlooking the main living room below them. It was as quiet as a tomb, save for the sliding metal door they entered, locking with a loud hiss of air

Natasha was quiet and did not even bother looking up when they entered the room. She had the sleeves of her suit rolled up and was slowly rocking back and forth on her chair with her eyes closed; the bruises on the bottom of her jaw still swollen and a small scrape on her cheek gleamed with the Neosporin she had smeared on it. Besides her on the desk were the confiscated items they had taken off the three invaders.

From Cisco: two gauntlets, goggles, two rubber bands, three pieces of gum, a Kit Kat wrapper, a penny, a crumple of five dollar bills, fifty two cents in change consisting of nickels, dimes and quarters, a photo of a tall man with his arm around him(both who had goofy grins on plastered on their lips) and a sandwich bagful of M&M's.

Supergirl only had a pair of glasses and a subway ticket for 'National City'. Why she had glasses, Wanda had no clue.

The Green Arrow was better armed than his companions. In his possession were: flechettes, hunting arrows, trick arrows (numerous), quiver, compound bow made of titanium and unknown alloy, extra arrowheads, and numerous gadgets on his chest that they had been unable to be confiscated.

Tony was sitting in the corner as far away as he could get from the other three members of the team and was uncharacteristically quiet; wearing only a simple T-shirt reading BLACK SABBATH and jeans. The slice on the side of his head was neatly stitched together and his nose had a small piece of tape strapped across it. His face was a riot of smalls nicks and bruises; the bottom lips was split right down the middle. He looked up when he heard them enter the room.

Steve narrowed his eyes as he watched Tony stand up, but did not say a word. Wanda stood next to him hesitantly and swallowed hard as Stark leaned forward on a chair making it creak in protest.

"I didn't do it..." he said softly.

"You had the suit..." Steve responded reproachfully, "And you shot the repulser blast that knocked her into the pillar...even though you clearly could see that Supergirl was immune to them. All they did was knock her down."

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. Tony's eyes widened, "I knew that!"

"Then why did you shoot off the blast?" Natasha asked in a low voice twirling a curl in her hair with her index finger.

"I didn't," Tony looked uncomfortable for a moment, "It was...something else..."

Wanda perked her ears up when he spoke. She caught Steve looking at her and she gave him a tentative smile in response. He nodded satisfied that she was able to function somewhat functional. She used her index finger to move a jumble of gears and electronic wiring with her powers before taking a seat on the cleared space. It was as far away as she could get away from Tony. For a moment, the junk pile continued to glow red and started to levitate. Wanda tried to pull back her abilities and for a moment they would not respond. Why now...why hadn't she let all her power out when they were fighting earlier?

Her brow furrowed and there was a thrumming in her ears, drowning out the conversation between the two men for a moment. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she recalled all of what Clint had coached her on how to control her powers. Eventually, albeit reluctantly they subsided and she sighed in relief.

"Why do you had your systems hacked? They're impossible to," Cap's voice was so quiet that Wanda was not even sure he had spoken.

She lifted her head and tried to listen in to the conversation and catch up.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Stark asked in reply.

" _Mr. Stark is telling the truth_ ," the A.I's electronic voice buzzed throughout the room, " _My systems were compromised, by an unknown source, for an extended period until Mr. Stark managed to reboot it. Unfortunately, by then the damage had been done."_

"And we are suppose to believe the software?" Natasha scoffed, a flash of her old spirit springing to the surface.

Tony's mouth dropped open and a bit of annoyance appeared on his face, "Why would I intentionally hit someone I knew would be knocked back into that building and survive?"

"How did your system get controlled in the first place?" Steve jumped in the conversation.

"I don't know!" Tony snapped, "If I did, would I bother listening to chew me out in the first place Capiscle? Why did you even bother coming back in the first place?"

"Because you told us you needed our help," the super solider managed to keep his voice level which was amazing since he was clearly irritated, "And that New York City was possibly being invaded."

"Funny that you decided to help," Stark snarled, "Considering you were _no_ help when it was decided that we had to follow the government's agreement to take charge on our location. Instead you decided to go against orders and turn the entire team against each other."

This statement started a round of arguing between the two men as Steve finally lost his cool; Natasha occasionally putting in her opinion before trying to put a stop to it. Wanda shrank down into her chair and struggled to keep her emotions under control. She hated the yelling and the fighting; it grated on her ears.

Eventually, she could not take it anymore and hopped off the table. She wandered over to the window, leaning against the frame to look down at the three people sitting down below them grateful that at least the windows were soundproof. Two of them were clearly in some kind of conversation save one. He was not talking but was looking directly at her face. The Green Arrow was watching her.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _19:58 hours_

* * *

Oliver was pissed.

Anyone could see that. Cisco wished he could shrink down and hide. Unfortunately, unlike Ray he did not have size manipulation powers. But the archer was not mad at him. Instead, he was mad about something else or someone else.

"This is the last time I will trust someone I barely know," Oliver grumbled obviously referring to the man Steve.

"Um...don't you trust the two recruits..." Cisco started to say before getting cut off with a glare.

"I did my research. On _both_ of them."

Cisco wanted to point out that out of the three original recruits one of them had turned out to be a traitor. But considering he valued keeping his fingers, he decided it was safer to not say a word. Kara swallowed hard before saying, "This doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked with a half-hearted chuckle, "That if we ever get back we will have to explain that Barry's dead?"

"No," Kara frowned and leaned forwards dropping her voice to just above a whisper, "That Iron Man shot me on purpose."

"Course he did," the tech genius grimaced as he flexed his fingers to prevent numbness from spreading to them, "He saw you as a threat. And to think I wanted to ask him for blueprints on his suit; he's one those people that don't deserve tech like that."

Supergirl cocked her head to the side, "He warned me before he shot me. That's why I don't think it was intentional."

"What do you think Oli—" Cisco cut himself off when saw Oliver was clearly not listening.

The archer was looking up at the room that the two people had disappeared into: the woman wearing the red jacket and the tall blond man. His eyes narrowed as he locked eyes with Wanda behind the window. Uneasily, she looked away from them and disappeared from sight; her face slack and full of worry. There was a muffled noise coming from the room above them, the sounds of people arguing.

"Sounds to me like things aren't going well for them," Oliver grunted.

"Not really," Kara who had been listening into the conversation above, "They are arguing about things that they did in the past or something..."

There was a low hiss of air as a door opened somewhere, followed by faint footsteps. The girl, Wanda, soon appeared on the second floor and began walking down the stairs; the archer's eyes never leaving her for a moment. She stopped at the foot of the stairwell and eyed them warily. Carefully she lifted her hand and a chair shot over to her, surrounded in a dark red cloud. Cisco visibly flinched at the wood scrapped across the floor; he still had not gotten use to her abilities no matter how cool they were.

Wanda sat down and drew her legs up onto the seat in order to hug her knees. Wisely, she had stayed as far away as possible from them, especially Oliver who was still glaring at her. She didn't say anything for a few moments, until Kara spoke.

"Why did you come here? You don't have anyone else to talk to?"

The Kryptonian voice was gentle but with a hint of anger hidden within it. Wanda shifted uneasily on her seat, "I...couldn't stand it anymore. It was much more quiet out here than in there..." she used her hand to indicate the room she had just been in. Her voice was strange; holding an foreign accent that made her voice low and thick at the same time.

Seeing that they were beginning to become hostile to her again, Wanda said, "Look. It will...make it easier on us all if you will just...talk." She had her eyes on Cisco but the statement was clearly directed at Oliver who bristled in response.

"You should have listened to us when we told you that in the first place," he snarled.

The girl bit her bottom lip hard enough that blood beaded on it, "We...didn't know if we could trust you." Her voice faltered, betraying her nervousness.

"To Hell with trust," the archer snapped, "There's been plenty of times in my life where I have not trusted a _particular_ individual, and yet I managed to still listen to them."

"Before you shot them," Cisco muttered poking his finger into a hole in his jacket.

"Not helping Ramon."

Wanda shifted her gaze on Cisco who tried to avoid it. Her eyes were a pretty brown color, but he had seen what happened to them when she used her powers. And that was enough to scare him. He also still did not understand why she had such a painful look on her face when she saw Barry. It was...strange.

"You knew him well didn't you?" she asked.

"Knew who?" Cisco managed to get up his courage to look at her in the face.

"The speedster," Wanda's reply was short and flat, "The...Flash."

Her voice trembled slightly, and out of the corner of Oliver's eye he could see a table to wobbly levitate in the air. His hand tightened slightly as his muscle memory screamed at him to pick the locks of the handcuffs and escape.

 _Not yet,_ he told himself

"Yeah," a flicker of anger appeared on Cisco's features, something entirely unfamiliar for him until of late, "What's it to you? You talk and you looked at him like he killed your family or something. What's with that?

Wanda surprisingly did not react in anger, but two expressions that Kara was familiar with appeared on her face: grief and shame. The table fell to the ground with a loud snap, a wire thin crack arching up one of its legs. The girl looked down at the ground and a faint red light shimmered around her. When she spoke, it sounded as if tears were below the surface.

"You will never understand Francisco," Wanda said softly, "Or maybe you will since you've also lost someone that close to you."

She fled the room without another word pushing the chair off to the side as she left. Cisco flinched as he felt something that brushed the edge of his consciousness was extracted. It was strange feeling whatever it was; an unknown presence had weighed down on his cerebral cortex. It was almost like...another presence inside his head. He must have had a strange expression on his face because Kara asked, "How did she know your full name? And that you lost...your brother."

"I don't know," Cisco swallowed hard, "But something tells me however she found out...is going to be used on us again if we do not speak in the next few minutes."

* * *

 _Earth 1: Location_ — _Central City_

 _20:05 hours_

* * *

Wally allowed the hot water to pour over the nearly healed wounds on his back. Welts appeared on his arms as steam rose up from the shower head as the water cascaded down the drain.

 _This is the last time I take on a biker gang,_ he thought grimly, _Until Barry give me pointers on how to avoid the chain. Man...I thought they only used those in movies..._

At least H.R. had been able to stitch up the nasty gash on his forehead since Catlin was still in Star City helping out their other superhero compatriots. Even with super healing, the skin still needed to be put together to heal fully. Hopefully, the writer used a sterilized needle...

With a snap, Wally turned the water off before quickly changing into some clean clothes he had laid next to the shower. Why S.T.A.R Labs was equipped with one, he had no idea. But he had a pretty good idea why it had been installed. The thought of Barry shot a pain a nostalgia into Wally's core as he yanked on a pair of well worn jeans. It had been nearly a week since the older speedster had disappeared, and his sister was going crazy with worry. Not to mention his dad and the rest of the team.

"I swear I'm going to punch you if I see you again Barry," Wally muttered as he headed down the long corridor to the cortex.

H.R. was sitting in the middle seat—Cisco's seat—twirling two drum sticks in his hands. On the table in front of him was a steaming hot cup of coffee and a blueberry banana muffin from Jitters. Wally's stomach growled; he had yet to eat and catch up on the calories he had just lost, though he was not certain he could eat a thing. Without a word he took a seat next to Harrison Wells of Earth-19; cramped muscles complaining as he stretched them.

"Eat Wallace," H.R. turned to him and surprisingly shoved both the coffee and the muffin his way, "You need the energy."

Considering the man was an absolute coffee fanatic (they had to make several unscheduled trips to the grocery store to restock the café in the museum), Wally was both surprised and grateful he had saved him some. He peeled the wrapper of the muffin and cramped about half of it in his mouth. He didn't even know he was practically starving, one of the disadvantages of super speed: he was always hungry.

"How's Iris taking it?" H.R. looked away and silently tapped a beat out on the desk.

Wally swallowed the mouthful he had; it slowly slid down into his stomach turning to cement along the way. "Pretty well considering. This isn't the first time Barry has...disappeared."

"Ah," the older man closed his eyes and thought quietly as he tapped out a particularly creative beat, "Now there's a beat I can work with. Know any good musicians who can write this?"

"I just don't get why he disappeared," the younger speedster continued though he had heard what his friend had said, picking a blueberry off the pastry. He eyed it before popping it in his mouth and chewing it gingerly, "Its not like he was running so fast that it happened..."

H.R. opened his eyes and was about to make a reply when there was a sudden shift in the earth. Wally for some reason, was more susceptible to it. He was well aware of the shake, two split seconds before the other man was.

"Earthquake," he yelped grabbing ahold of H.R. and stuffing him under the desk before diving after him.

There was a sudden roar as the shifting earth slammed into the building. The overhead lights shook, and the lights and computers flickered on and off. The coffee cup spilled over, dripping the beverage onto H.R's hands; scalding the skin. The man did not cry out in pain but his face turned ashen grey. One of the lights exploded, sending down a shower of sparks. Wally adjusted his body so that he could look out into the center of the cortex. He could actually see the tiles rippling and waving to the movements of the earth.

Even though it seemed that the quake had lasted forever—even though it had been only three seconds—it eventually ended. Sparks continued to fly from the overhead lights that had blown up. Asides from that, there was no other visible damage to the building. Outside however, Wally heard the wailing of car alarms and people yelling.

His phone rang with a text message: it was Iris. He was pleased to hear that she was alright, and on her way over to check up on them. Catlin's text soon came after and hers was a bit more lengthy. He frowned as he got to his feet. H.R. who was gently dabbing at his wounded hands got to his feet and asked, "What did Snow have to say?"

"She said Star City also got hit," he said, "With just as a bad earthquake. According to Felicity...it was a three point five on the Richter scale."

"Oh," H.R. frowned, "That's pretty bad on this earth right?"

"Not really," Wally said stretching the truth a bit, "But..."

"After having similar quakes in the past days since Barry disappeared," the writer acknowledged, "Ah...that's not good."

"And it also has been happening in the same city where the Green Arrow is active. But both of our city's are not this earthquake prone," the speedster flickered his eyes up to meet the other, "Do you think this has anything to do with them...vanishing?"

"Maybe," H.R shrugged, "Or perhaps California's quakes decided to take a vacation here as well."

Wally was silent for a moment as he looked up recent earthquake activity around one of the United States biggest faults; The San Andres. What he read made his stomach clench again. Los Angles had been hit with a five point three, and thousands had been injured. There were no known deaths...but seismologist were saying that these quakes were abnormal in quantity as there were multiple quakes in many cities around the world; even New York had been struck by a four point zero. Silently he and H.R shared a look before Wally raced off. There were people who needed to be saved.

As he quickly rescued a mother and her daughter from their car, nearly crushed by a piece of concrete, he couldn't help but wonder.

What was causing this many quakes?

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _20:15 hours_

* * *

Eventually, Cap managed to cut himself off from yet digging a deeper hole simply by...shutting up. More or less. Tony was about to go into another round about how the thousand year old fossil was not always right and that by keeping Bucky's involvement in his parents' murders was a big mistake and vise versa. Abruptly, the super solider stopped himself from saying something else ridiculous by stating, "Where's Wanda?"

Tony first thought he was using it as an excuse to stop arguing. But after casting his gaze around the room, he discovered that the girl was indeed missing.

"Wanda?" he called out, "We're not arguing anymore see?"

No response.

He scratched his beard and Natasha stood up looking intently at the door. Steve's eyes narrowed and he glanced out the window down at the prisoners below them. They hadn't moved, but the archer was glaring up at him. Something about the man's gaze made the super solider take a few steps backwards. The sound of approaching footsteps made the two men turn their heads to the entrance to the room. Wanda ran in and shut the door behind her, out of breath.

"Where were you?" Steve's voice emanated concern.

It took a second or two for the girl to answer, "Bathroom."

Her voice quivered and she had tears glinting at the corner of her eyes. Tony could easily see that Natasha and Cap didn't believe her. But neither pursued the issue; they were more interested in the more important matter at hand. The newcomers. What were they going to do with them?

Tony painfully shrugged on his jacket—he didn't even know it was scientifically possible to get bruises on his armpit—and picked up a file folder he had created in the past three hours; stuffed full of blank paper and pencils. Originally he had planned to record the conversation via tape recorder. Unfortunately, it had been smashed when he got knocked on his behind by the archer—who had done an excellent job of pretending to be unconscious.

He exited the room, and he heard footsteps behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Steve whisper something to Wanda who nodded and vanished down the corridor to the bedrooms. The solider nodded as if satisfied before walking towards Tony, with Natasha in tow. The Black Widow bumped into him intentionally as she passed, giving him a glare that made his blood turn to ice.

Coughing to clear his throat, the former playboy plopped down in a sofa directly opposite of the three 'prisoners'. Originally he planned on greeting them with the traditional "welcome invaders" but the idea had quickly been shot down by none other than Captain Stick in the Mud. So it was decided to call them by their so called code-names, save for the 'normal' one given.

"So uh," he coughed again to stop his throat from feeling so dry, "You err...from another dimension am I correct?"

There was silence for a moment. Then the man named Cisco spoke, "Wowwwwwwwww..." he droned out the word so it sounded like he was unimpressed though his facial expression said otherwise, "It seriously took you five freaking hours to solve that. Congratulations Einstein...you just won the Nobel Prize for Brilliance."

"I already have..." Tony turned his head to look at him, " _Twice_."

The man snorted and stared at him with a dirty look that did not look threatening at all, "Sarcasm doesn't really work for you huh? Even my cousin's _dog_ understands sarcasm."

"Cisco..." Supergirl said softly as if chastising him. She turned to Tony who was not at all pleased to see her wounds had already healed up, "Ignore him. He got bored."

"I have to go on record and say that this is even more boring than the time I got locked in the broom closet," Cisco said stiffly, "Catlin's bad idea of an April Fool's prank."

"Enough you two," the Green Arrow snapped before turning to Tony with clear disgust in his eyes, "I'm guessing you aren't here to talk pleasantries."

"We're not," Steve confirmed before asking, "Now...please explain to us. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The archer glowered at him, "You already know where we are from. So why would you like to know who we are?"

Tony was well aware of Natasha and Steve sharing an uneasily look. In order to keep face, the genius decided to keep his likewise uneasiness hidden. How did the hooded man know how to turn the words to his advantage? As far as he could tell, the man had no superpowers unlike his companions. Stark coughed again and shifted slightly as he opened the file folder to examine the blank piece of paper that stared at him. He hadn't even realized he had written one sentence about the Green Arrow: "Hates being called Robin Hood". Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth he doodled a dorky looking version of Robin's head cap on the head of a stick figure.

"Cut the crap," Natasha lifted her head and gave the archer a glare of her own, "We just would like to know who you are."

"Heroes from another earth," Supergirl said simply before looking around with a shrug, "Though it didn't seem that way when...we fought."

There was silence for a moment. Then Tony burst out laughing. He doubled over scattering the paper everywhere. Steve bit his lip before clearing his throat, signaling that his friend better shut up. Tony did so though it took him several seconds to compose himself. When he finally did he was gasping for air.

"Heroes," he bit back another round of giggles, "You're kidding me. No...you're aliens from another dimension right?"

"No," this comment came from Cisco who looked up at him sadly, "We're humans...not...aliens." He looked awkward for a moment, "Er...well she is but she's harmless." He indicated Supergirl nodded in agreement though she looked a bit annoyed.

"Wait you're an alien?" Tony asked perking up slightly. Even though she was an alien, the lady was hot. Almost as if he knew what Stark was thinking, the archer shot him a condescending glare that equal to that of mother scolding a child. His ears burning from embarrassment, Tony slumped back in his chair and tried not to look at Supergirl.

Steve looked at them thoughtfully before nodding, "Alright. Fine. So you're heroes from an another dimension. I'm sorry but that sounds a little far fetched even to me."

"Says the guy who survived a plane crash during World War II," Cisco muttered under his breath. Kara was the only one who heard him and looked at him curiously. He raised his head and conveyed the message ' _tell you later'_ through his eyes.

Natasha who had really had said much leaned forwards and said coldly, "I don't believe you."

"Then the discussion is over," the archer growled.

True to his word, the group did not say another word despite being prodded and questioned. At one point the Green Arrow's face hardened and he appeared to be contemplating something before glaring a the space behind Tony's back; his compatriots faces never took on this look. Cisco's remained indifferent and he kept drumming his fingers on his knee. Supergirl just looked out the window at the city with a small frown on her face. After about twenty minutes, Tony stood up and said, "We'll give you another moment to think. Hopefully, you'll be more talkative."

Never before had he been so glad to leave a room. Wanda was standing at the bottom of the stairwell. Her face glistened with sweat and she appeared very tired and worn out. Silently she walked up the stairs leaving Tony to wonder why Steve had told her to remain there.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _20:30 hours_

* * *

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" Tony asked the ceiling, "Is it possible to do a bio-scan on the three down in the room below?"

" _Of course sir_ ," the A.I. buzzed pleasantly.

Steve silently took a seat on one of the few chairs in the room, carefully removing an unfinished project of Tony's and putting it to the side. He didn't like this at all. Tampering with a man's mind was the last sanctuary of many. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about Wanda telling him she was going try to read their guests minds. He hadn't said not to, but told her to do what she thought was best.

Apparently the mind reading hadn't been too successful. The girl was leaning against the wall in the corner, levitating several work tools as her stress levels rose. Tony stood up and almost got beaned in the head by a screwdriver. With a roll of his eyes, he pushed the arrogant tool off to the side where it spun in an antigravity bubble.

"Wanda," he said kindly, "Um...would you mind—"

"Sorry," she apologized and all the tools instantly plopped down back on the workbench.

Natasha said nothing but had a small smile crawl across her face. She was holding The Green Arrow's bow in her hands, tapping her index finger against the dull metal. It was painted a dark army green color, so dark it was almost black. Despite its fragile looking appearance, it was made of an incredibly strong metal. Steve had been a bit unnerved by how his shield had not been able to even dent it, let alone snap it like a twig. That should have been impossible. What metal was as strong as Vibranium?

With a high pitched ping, F.R.I.D.A.Y announced the scan of the new comers had been completed. Tony clapped his hands together suddenly and Wanda flinched from the noise.

"Alright then," he grinned, "Let's see what our friends are made of. Let's do the hot one first."

"That woman almost killed you," Steve pointed out.

"Ah..." Stark waved off the statement, "Lots of women have almost killed me. F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

The A.I displayed a hologram screen that took up much of the room. The lights dimmed allowing them to have a better view of the glowing window. On it was a colored frame of Supergirl standing with her arms up and in a fighting stance.

" _Supergirl's biology is unlike ours but is similar in many ways_ ," the A.I said pleasantly shifting through several images of scans it had taken during the fight," _Her appearance is human, but her genetic make-up is otherworldly."_

"So she's an alien?" Wanda asked.

She had somehow migrated over to Steve's chair and was resting her hands on the edge of it. The super-solider looked up at her with a kindly smile and leaned over to pull another chair for her to sit on. The girl gave him a grave smile in return and took a seat.

" _Yes. Her skin is impenetrable and her body is able to withstand any type of outside force without injury to her body_ ," F.R.I.D.A.Y continued to monologue," _She can hold her breath for several minutes and if need be expel the air as wind or freezing cold air. This allows her lung capacity to store much more air than an average human_."

"So she has freeze breath, heat vision, super strength, super speed, and invulnerability," Tony counted off the powers on his fingers, "Anything else we should know about?"

" _It appears that she draws energy from Earth's yellow sun and converts it into power. Quite literally. It is very effective as you have found out sir._ "

Wanda giggled as Stark's face turned into a shade of red just below the color of a tomato. He coughed awkwardly before croaking, "Move onto the guy who had those energy gauntlets."

"You mean Cisco?" it annoyed Steve that Tony had decided to not call the man by his real name. The least they could do was that.

"Vibe. Cisco. Whatever."

" _Mr. Ramon is human."_ A holographic image of Cisco appeared on the screen next to Supergirl's.

"So they weren't lying," Wanda muttered. Seeing that they had looked up at her she added, "I was...unable to read their minds. Cisco's...temporarily before he started going on a tirade about how you—" she looked at Tony,"—managed to have enough energy to power your suit."

Stark had a smug expression on his face which was quickly extinguished by Natasha's glare.

"And the others?" Steve asked flickering his eyes over to Wanda.

"Supergirl...was immune to my mind reading," the girl swallowed hard before continuing, "And...the Green Arrow...managed to block me out of his mind."

"How is that even possible?" Natasha dropped the bow and looked at her shocked, "No one can resist your mind reading."

"Well..." Wanda swallowed again, "He did. I had to withdraw before he realized it was me. I still think he did know though...somehow."

"What makes you say that?" Tony asked.

"He clearly spoke five words in his thoughts," the girl said shakily, "He said 'Get out of my head'."

Silence permeated the room, seemingly making it darker than it already was. Steve cleared his throat in order for them to move on. They could not afford to be distracted. Had Clint been here, he would have had similar ideals, perhaps even throwing in a joke or two to lighten the mood.

"Anything else about Cisco we should know about?" Cap asked.

"He can control energy blasts," Natasha grunted placing the bow on the table next to her, "Knocked me out for several minutes and left my ears ringing."

" _He appears to be rather fond of sweets_ ," F.R.I.D.A.Y put in helpfully, " _And his cerebral cortex lights up when he comes into contact with a living person or personal belongs. He also has an energy field around him that_ _fluctuates. At times it can appear that he gives off radiation equal to that of our world, and at others energy consitant to that of_ _his. Anyone in contact or around him is likewise effected._ "

"That explains why the energy spikes appeared and disappeared," Tony marveled, "I _knew_ my tech wasn't wigging out on me _."_

"What about the Green Arrow?" Natasha said narrowing her eyes, "The one who is so incredibly cheerful."

" _The Green Arrow, or 'Robin Hood' as Mr. Stark labeled him, is indeed human_ ," the A.I buzzed pulling up several images of the archer in different fighting positions, " _However, it is quite odd._ "

"What is odd?" Steve asked.

" _About eighty five percent of his body is scarred, and he displays several interesting tattoos_." The A.I pulled up pictures of the markings covering the images of the three. The man's scars and several apparent burns looked as if they had been inflicted by several sharp objects, almost as if he had been tortured at some point. The tattoos were another matter. One of them was written in Chinese characters; however F.R.I.D.A.Y could not translate them. However, when the A.I pulled up the second tattoo, Natasha shot up out of her chair, her eyes wild.

"Go back to that one," she said.

The A.I played back the picture. It didn't look like much to Steve as it had an appearance of an eight pointed star. But clearly Natasha was unnerved by it.

"What is it Nat?" he asked her.

Her voice was full of wonder when she spoke, "Bratva."

"Huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow, "Gesundheit!"

"I didn't sneeze," she grumbled before flipping her hair back behind her shoulder, "Bravta was a Russian mobe back when I was...part of the Red Room." Steve knew she hated talking about her past and did not try to pressure her to say anymore. To his surprise she continued talking, "Our two groups had a bit of an uneasy alliance. We stayed in our own place. Bravta was a primarily male dominated mob, unlike mine which was entirely female. This particular tattoo is one of the highest positions one could get: Captain."

"But where did he get it?" Wanda asked tentively as she folded her arms together.

"Something tells me he isn't about to tell us..." Steve muttered.

He stood up and walked out of the room intending to at least try to make the man talk. The lights were flickering eerily as he headed down the stairs taking care not to trip over the robotic arm Tony had left sprawled on a step. For some reason, he felt uneasy as he headed towards the living room. Upon reaching it, he discovered the light was off; only the city lights illuminated part of the region by the window. Steve cursed under his breath, and swiped at the light switch in an effort to turn it back on.

The second the light came on, something big and heavy suddenly slammed into his back. Cap blinked in surprise before allowing his body to be taken ahold by gravity in order to pin the person down with his shoulder. Twisting his head, he was shocked to see the archer had grabbed ahold of him. The hooded man grunted and managed to get his feet tucked under him; kicking Steve directly in the small of the back. The pain was too much for the solider to handle, and he instinctively twisted to the side wheezing.

There was a sudden scramble of feet as Tony and Natasha raced down the stairwell, Wanda following close behind. Nat raised her pistol and barked, "Hands behind your head!"

Someone grabbed ahold of the gun and smashed it between their hands, easily crushing it like tinfoil. Supergirl tossed the crippled weapon to the side, before placing her hands carefully on Tony and Natasha's shoulders, forcing them to raise their hands. She had a sour expression on her face, "I told you breaking out was a bad idea."

"This isn't the time," the archer hissed as he tried unlocking Cisco's handcuffs.

A chair suddenly flew through the air and slammed into him, pinning him against the wall. The archer swore and struggled to free himself, but Wanda had learned her lesson. She sat there gritting her teeth as sweat perspired onto her forehead; her eyes a bloody red color. The Green Arrow gritted his teeth as the pressure on his chest increased and started trying to gasp for air. Supergirl looked the girl with a pleading expression on her face, "I don't want to hurt you...or your friends. But you're going to kill him if you don't stop right now."

"He tried to kill us," Wanda muttered without relinquishing her hold, "What difference does it make?"

"Wanda," Steve managed to stagger to his feet, wincing as his bruised kidney's started to throb, "Stand down. There should not be anymore killing."

The girl looked at him and back to the archer who was holding onto the sides of the chair as he tried to climb up through the legs. He slipped and fell back down into the chair. Cisco was frantically trying to trying to remove the remaining handcuff on his wrist, looking up every once in a while. Tony tried opening his mouth to ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to deploy his suit, and had Natasha's hand immediately clapped against his mouth. She was not a foolish; she was playing along for the time being and signaled Tony to wait. Steve could literally hear a pounding in his ears as he waited for Wanda to listen to him. Time past, seconds seemed like hours.

The furniture smashed into the ground; shattering into a several pieces. Wanda lowered her arms, her breathing heavy and ragged. The archer got to his feet and with a flick of his wrist disarmed the remaining handcuff Cisco was struggling with.

"Hey! I almost had it!"

"We're done here," the Green Arrow growled, "And we're leaving. Don't try to follow us, else next time there will be more deaths. And not on my account."

"You won't even leave the city," Steve said quickly, "We'll cut you off before you get fifty miles."

"I'll take that challenge," the archer said wryly.

He turned to Cisco and muttered something quietly under his breath. The man swallowed, the blob of salvia easily seen going down his throat and nodded. He very, very carefully inched his way around Wanda before scrambling up the stairs, nearly tripping over himself on the way up. Natasha carefully removed her hand from Tony's mouth and elbowed him gently. He stared at her. She did it again. Tony met her gaze blankly. With a scowl, she stomped on his foot, _hard_. He yelped in response and hopped up and down, cradling his injured foot.

It had the intended effect. Supergirl shoved both of them apart from each other, "Sheesh...if you didn't like him all you had to say so."

"I think you broke my toes," Tony whimpered not entirely acting out the pain. S.H.I.E.L.D had started rumors that Natasha had a habit of lining her shoes with a thin layer of titanium. If it were the case, it sure felt like it.

"They're badly sprained," Nat grumbled under her breath, "I didn't break them."

"I really need to start how to learn how to defend myself," Stark responded wincing as he set his foot down, "Before you break anything."

The Green Arrow grabbed ahold of him and shoved him next to Steve who was still leaning against the table. His face was an ashen grey color but he managed to give Tony a sickly smile.

"Any ideas?" he whispered under his breath, so low that he could barely himself.

"No," Tony groused as a new wave of pain filled his foot, "You?"

"One," Cap grimaced, "And its going to be really crazy."

"I can work with crazy."

Steve suddenly lunged forward when The Green Arrow turned his back to him. He hoped that the man could get caught off guard long enough for the others to react. At any rate...he could easily over power him if he chose to. The solider plowed the archer to the ground where both of them start rolling around swearing and throwing punches. Steve managed to deliver a right hook under the man's chin, which loosened the hooded man's grip on him. Unfortunately, the archer recovered quickly and landed a punch directly on Cap's cheek; making it go numb and have his teeth rattle. Steve staggered to his feet before he was brought down again, leaving both men in a hopeless tangle. Through gaps in the fighting, Cap saw Wanda levitating several vases but was not throwing them. He and the archer were in too close proximately for her to have a clear shot.

Meanwhile Natasha managed to slip under Supergirl's guard and raced towards the stairwell. The Kryptonian looked hesitantly after her before floating up into the air to survey the scene below. She apparently did not want to fight.

Tony seeing that she was distracted tried sneaking past her by using the sofas as cover. He needed to get to his lab. Due to the possibility of his systems getting compromised again, he hadn't activated voice command in this part of the room. Which meant...he needed to get his suit manually. He yelped and sprang back as a blast of heat vision fried the tile in front of him.

Before he could throw back a snarky comment, the doors leading to the living room banged open. Instantly, everyone froze. The scene would have been comical had it not been for the situation they were in. Wanda had a vase frozen directly above The Green Arrow's head, who was pinned on the ground by Steve. Supergirl looked as if she were about to assist the archer but had stopped an inch from Cap's back; her fist aimed at it. Tony stopped in a running position as he was preparing to slide across the floor to get to the stairwell. At the top of the stairs Natasha was dragging Cisco out by the roots of his hair, and his face was scrunched up in protest. His mouth shut and dropped back open upon seeing who was standing in the doorway.

"Hey guys," Clint spoke with a wide grin on his face, a the tall lanky man standing next to him looking rather sheepish, "Miss us?"

* * *

 **The San Andres fault is sure scary looking. I only caught a glimpse of it when flying in an airplane. Least I can say it looks like an ugly wound in the earth. Earthquakes happening across the globe? Well...more will be explained in future chapters.**

 **Another thing. Steve's kidney's were bruised, but his healing factor will take care of it. If they were ruptured he would probably need a doctor. That's why this particular move Oliver pulled on him, is outlawed in boxing (not to say it does not happen occasionally).**

 **And look who survived the fall...so you guys can't be mad at me anymore XD**

 **~Sil**

 **Question II: Who do you think Peter Quill will get along better with in Infinity War? Clint or Tony? Or maybe even Steve.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Surprise, surprise. So Clint and Barry aren't dead. Now lets find out what happened to them shall we?**

 **~~~...~~~**

 **Guest: I hope I didn't torture you too much. Here's a new chapter for you to enjoy!**

 **BlueBonfire: Yay! They survived. And didn't die.**

 **Tenza: No better way than to create a quick and long lasting friendship than to almost die by being squashed by a building.**

 **Crystal: I can be mean, but not _that_ mean. How could I kill off my two favorite characters and not feel any guilt?**

 **Random Lady: My God...don't tempt me to write a chapter** ** _just_ for those two. I think even Sara would get annoyed to the point she'd lock them in the storage compartment of the Wave Rider. This occurs after INVASION. It happens roughly a few days after the Supergirl/Flash crossover but before Oliver found out and went after Prometheus. Oliver will have a much...err...more welcoming greeting for Barry XD. ****Sorry but Thor and Loki will _not_ be in this. I might drop a Dr. Strange cameo...it depends how I feel X3**

 **Amy: Paralyzed or in the hospital unfortunately. Thankfully Oliver wasn't trying to hurt him intentionally...ok...maybe 70% trying.**

 **Hari: Huh...never had to time to look the characters up. -shrugs- Thanks for the translation, I'll try to bring them in later. Fun fact: The mouse (or rat as it is better known) represents instinctiveness, acuteness and alertness in nature as well as people with the sign react properly before the worst circumstances take place. They are also very adaptable to their surroundings (and ironically their lucky color is green). The pig represents responsiblity, independence and optimism (something which Oliver lacks sometimes), but people with the sign can be very short-tempered (Oliver is much like this in some cases).**

 **~~~...~~~**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. Marvel belongs to Stan Lee/Marvel comics and DC Comics belong to DC/CW.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _20:50 hours_

* * *

It had taken a total of two or so minutes for Kara to finally realize that she hadn't been knocked out, and she was dreaming as a result. In the first three seconds though, Oliver had somehow managed to punch Barry directly in the face. Kara hadn't even seen him free himself from Steve.

The speedster crumpled to the ground, closing his eyes in pain as blood dripped from his nose, having gone askew. The backpack he had been holding plunked down to the ground next to him.

"If you ever do something like that again—" the archer snarled preparing another right hook.

"Good to see you too Oliver," Barry groused nasally, pinching his broken nose between his thumb and index finger, "Waz it weally necessaryq to bake my noze?"

"Consider yourself lucky I didn't wring your scrawny neck," Oliver dropped his arm to the side and had a gleam of relief in his eyes which far outweighed the anger. It still didn't stop him from snapping something typical of his demeanor.

"Can you ever say a simplep 'I'm glabd you're back?'" the speedster winced as he snapped the cartilage back into a normal position before wiping the blood off his mask, "Or is seriously everything you say result in a punch or getting shot with an arrow?" He glanced at the blood as if he could not believe it was his before rubbing it off his gloves.

"Don't push your luck Lightning Rod," the archer grumbled but his face had softened slightly, "Though I'm glad you're not dead."

"I'm guessing an apology for breaking my nose isn't in order?"

Oliver growled and stomped off indignantly. Kara could tell that he was a tad bit annoyed about the former revealing his real name. Okay _...very_ annoyed.

"You weren't kidding about him going to punch you," Clint muttered glanced at Barry who had gotten to his feet.

"C-C-Clint?" this came from Natasha who was so surprised, that she had released Cisco; he had crawled away from her. He rubbed his head where the hair had come out by the roots, before sticking his tongue out at her defiantly. Behind Kara, she heard something get dropped with a crash. Wanda had lost her concentration on levitating the vases, resulting in them smashing upon the ground.

"Hey Nat," Hawkeye gave her a half smile before shuttering slightly. His face had a faint shade of blue to it, "How about we tell you about our brush with death after you give us a blanket or two huh?"

Kara immediately snapped out of her trance suddenly realizing that this wasn't a dream. She grabbed Barry and hugged him as tight as she could without killing him. He hollered in protest and started squirming in an effort to free himself. She ignored him.

"Rao, I am so glad you are alive," she said tightening her grip. Something cracked under her gripped arms.

"Uh Kara?" Barry's voice was high and soft, just barely a breath of air as he tapped her shoulder shakily, "You're holding...me...too...tight. Ribs...lungs...spleen...-groan-...all my internal organs?"

"Oh..." she set him down on the ground, "Sorry."

He grinned at her sheepishly, the typical goofy grin of his that was extremely infectious. She punched him in the shoulder for emphasis and to express her annoyance at giving her a heart attack. The speedster leapt back with a yelp and clutched at his injury in surprise, "Ow...what was that for?"

"Scaring me," she groused before grinning and hugging him again, "Glad you're back."

"Mphf," he muttered getting a mouthful of her cape before she released him, "Was it necessary to punch me to? You could've broken something."

Kara heard someone clear his throat and turned around to see Tony standing there. He kept staring at Clint as if he could not believe that he was alive. Wanda's eyes were as wide as saucers and she looked like was either on the verge of fainting or running over and giving her friend a hug. Steve on the other hand was more vocal. It was clear he was surprised by his friend's appearance. Despite his cheek being stripped raw where Oliver had clawed at him, he still managed to assert his leadership. It was rather amazing considering he obviously did not enjoy fighting them.

"Good to see you Clint," he said hoarsely before furrowing his brow, "Though I can't understand why how..."

He cut himself off and gestured to Barry who either didn't care or was too occupied with calming a hysterical Cisco down. Natasha had released him as soon as Clint had appeared, her surprise causing her to let her prisoner go. Cisco raced up to Barry blathering something so fast the Kara could not understand him—though the words spewing from his mouth sounded a tad bit alien. The speedster obviously did and he nodded with a warm smile on his face, "It wasn't your fault."

Cisco shot daggers at him, "Kind of was. I should've told you."

"I probably wouldn't have listened," Barry laughed and clapped his hand on his shoulder, "Sorry for scaring you man."

"I better hug you before I punch you," the tech genius muttered before giving his friend a quick hug. Barry winced, groaned slightly, and held his side when he was released. Kara narrowed her eyes and saw that the speedster had retained internal injuries that were obviously not from her.

"You're hurt," she pointed out.

"Honestly its nothing," he waved her concern off grimacing as he did, "Just a couple of broken ribs. I've had worse."

"Barry...you have at least three broken ribs, another that is fractured, a bruised liver, and your pelvis is cracked," she scolded, "What did you do? Literally dive off the building?" She mentally face palmed, "Wait no...sorry you kind of did."

He shrugged in that annoying way that meant neither yes or no before turning away from her. He didn't appear to be at all intimidated by Natasha who had appeared on the scene and began to size him up. In fact he arched an eyebrow in an expression that clearly showed he was both perplexed and a bit nervous.

"Clint..." she said after finishing circling the speedster, "Explain. _Now_."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _21:10 hours_

* * *

Natasha had to hand it to Hawkeye. He sure knew how to drag things out in that endearing and annoying way of his. She eyed him cautiously as he wrapped a blanket around himself. They had provided for them the two men whose body temperature were obviously below normal. Clint had relatively minor injures, only having bruised his right shoulder and thigh. However, both men was suffering from minor hypothermia, Clint more so than the other.

The one the three strangers called Barry, was perched on the edge of the sofa, his broken ribs obviously causing him some discomfort. Now and then he would shiver. It was strange though, since his entire body seem to vibrate when he did; Nat even could have sworn seeing electricity spark off him at one point. She occasionally caught him looking at her, where upon he quickly stared into the cup of coffee Wanda had given him without a word; her face barely masking her nervousness. He was obviously the speedster considering the costume he was wearing. Had he not been wearing it, she would have known it was him; there was no other person that could have had the same set of eyes she had seen behind the red mask: they radiated both hidden sadness and kindness at the same time.

His costume was caked with enough dirt and grime, so that anytime he moved, he would have it come off him in miniature dustslides—much to the annoyance of Tony. Stark felt as if it was necessary to point out that the speedster should sit on a top of a stack of newspapers to prevent the dirt from getting everywhere. He was awarded by a punch to the arm by Nat.

Barry somehow managed to make his stare not seem at all threatening, and to be honest, he sent off a good vibe. His eyeing her seemed more wary and calculating than hostile. There had not been a word of incarcerating the four newcomers, not since Clint seem to trust the man who appeared with him, and no doubt saved his life when the building collapsed. And through the archer's trust, his teammates also grew, though it was still wary.

The Black Widow shifted her gaze to the other three. Oliver, Kara, and Cisco. The names blended together in the back of her mind. However, it didn't seem that the obvious permanent truce had extended to one of the individuals. 'Kara' seemed less guarded. Her cautious yet warm smile definitely hid the other side Natasha had seen. Cisco had also relaxed, though he was still pretty jumpy around her and Wanda. At the moment he was sitting on the sofa next to Steve, but a good distance away from the captain. He also clearly had Tony's sweet tooth (and had somehow acquired Stark's secret stash) since he had through about three bags of gummy worms and one Starburst before the previous owner (Tony) had snatched them away from him.

Oliver hadn't removed his costume, but had allowed his head to face them so light shown on it; allowing them to get a good look at his features. They were tight and rugged, and not at all friendly. He had refused to exchange the green mask for a peek at his face, and still had his hood pulled up around his head. Almost if he knew she was thinking about him, the archer glowered at her from across the coffee table before picking up the pot of coffee and pouring himself a drink. He didn't bother adding milk or sugar resting on the table, instead gulping the beverage down like a shot of whiskey; black.

Tony clapped his hands together, "Now that we are all settled and know tall dark and grumpy over there likes his coffee bitter...can you explain HOW THE HELL YOU SURVIVED?"

Clint set his cup down on the saucer with a clack and a dark look. It was sad honestly, that Tony hadn't even bothered doing the dishes he had used since the team split—apparently they didn't have an app for that. Which meant they had to rely on two coffee cups, one drinking glass and five tea-cups in order to allow their guests have something to drink out of. The mismatched table arrangement would have given anyone with Atelophobia a heart-attack.

Hawkeye turned to Barry who was staring into his cup as if he wished to disappear into its depths, "You want to tell them or me?" The man didn't answer, instead idly stirring his coffee with his index finger. A pair of red gloves lay on the arm of the sofa suggesting that the speedster had removed them from his hands to be more comfortable. Or more likely warm his hands up quicker.

"Barry," Oliver's tone wasn't a question, "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. You're team leader, your decision."

"I hate it when you make me team leader," the man muttered drying his finger on the edge of his emergency blanket.

The hooded man growled in response.

"Is he always this cheery?" Tony asked turning his head to the speedster.

Barry shrugged, "I know he seems tall, dark, and gloomy...but once you get to know him—" he cut himself off when his friend shot him a poisonous look before saying still cheerfully though with a worried expression on his face, "That he is always tall, dark, and gloomy."

He cautiously took a sip of coffee and grimaced. Clearly...five hour old coffee was not his favorite, even with milk and a table spoon of sugar. Natasha did not even have the heart to point out that caffeine and sugar rush might not be good for him.

"I'll say," Cisco muttered stuffing a sour gummy worm in his mouth, "He almost strangled you when you found out about his identity."

Kara swatted him gently on the shoulder to silence him. However, the damage had been already done.

"Ramon?" Oliver said coldly.

"What?"

"Shut up."

Steve glanced at the archer disapprovingly, who gave a glare back in return. The tension between the two didn't seem like it would end. Natasha watched Wanda start biting her nails nervously when the speedster reached over to put his empty cup down on the table. He looked at the girl for a moment, appearing as if he wanted to say something. But instead, his bottom lip disappeared into his mouth as he clamped down on it swallowing whatever he was about to say.

"I guess Clint will go first," Tony put in cheerfully trying to ease the uneasiness, "Care to join in when you want to Speedy. Can I call you Speedy?"

Barry had a ghost of smile on his face as he shook his head, "No."

"Eh...worth a shot," Tony watched Clint used one his arrows to shoved his cup down further down the coffee table with such force that it rattled it, "Anyways...I'm guessing it all started after I...kind of destroyed the building..."

"Kind of?" Clint grumbled, "You nearly killed us you idiot. Now do you mind keeping your trap shut for once so I can tell you what happened? Otherwise, I'm raiding your top secret snack stash."

"You don't even know where it is," Tony replied smugly.

"Barry will help me...won't you?" the archer turned and faced the speedster.

The Flash had a small smile on his face which was white and tight with pain, but he inclined his head. Tony sighed deeply before drawing his hands across his lips as if he were closing a zipper, ' _my lips are sealed_ _'._

"Good," the archer rubbed his injured arm and winced before beginning dramatically, "It all started when I found how what its like to be _under_ New York."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Under New York City_

 _9 hours earlier_

* * *

When Clint awoke he momentarily forgot where he was. Everything was black, and the air smelled musty and old. He tried breathing in some air only to cough violently. Immediately, he expelled a mass of dirt, mucus, and saliva from his lungs. Leaning off to the side, he continued to cough and retch until his air ways were clear.

The archer sat back, his lungs and throat raw from his coughing fit, breathing heavily. Everything came back into clarity. Tony had slammed into the building he was perched on, knocking it down, along with him. Clint only remembered the panic and fear he felt as he fell through the air down towards a chunk of debris the size of a tractor. Then...something slammed into him and...everything else was blur before he blacked out. Was he dead?

"If this what being dead looks like," he muttered quietly to himself, "Then it _sucks_."

Something groaned above him. Gingerly, he reached up and felt nothing in the empty void. Frowning thoughtfully, he sat up carefully. Something rough and hard brushed against his back. He turned and winced as his shoulder screamed in protest, but he ignored the pain. Carefully, he allowed his fingers to dance over the edge of a piece of concrete. It took a moment for his brain to register where he was.

He was underground.

"Ok..." he said out loud trying to make himself feel better, "At least I'm not dead...I think. But how in the hell did I survive?"

The darkness around him easily swallowed up the sound and made his voice sound hollow. It seemed that the air became even more stale as he spoke, making him realize he only had a limited amount of air in the pocket he was trapped in. Which meant he had to conserve it until he figured out how to get out.

Clint shifted his legs, and immediately bumped into a long, flexible item next to his feet. He lunged and grabbed ahold of it, recognizing the mass and shape of the object. He lifted his bow while running his fingers along it, and was pleased to see that it was still intact despite having a big chunk taken out of the sight window. At least not everything of his was destroyed. His pupils had expanded so wide that his eyes hurt, but it allowed him to make out faint smudges of outline in the dark. Carefully, he used his bow as a cane in order to pull himself up. The archer's right leg almost gave out of him as he put weight on it.

Gritting his teeth, the archer gently felt the muscle and found that it had been bruised, but not strained. It was extremely tender though, and Clint found himself biting his tongue to keep himself from crying out. He took a step forward taking care to put more pressure on his left foot. He moved slowly using the tip of his bow and his left foot as a way of navigating; feeling almost blind in his new surroundings. Silently he counted off the distance he was traveling inside his head, in order to map how wide the interior of the air pocket was.

His foot suddenly smacked into something warm and soft. Clint yelped and fell back, startled by feeling the contact of a body. He cursed himself immediately for wasting more of the precious air. The next second, he began to wonder who was down here with him.

"Ughhhhh."

The sound of pain made Clint scramble to pick his bow up and point it in the direction it came from; where the body was lying. There was a faint scrapping noise as someone dragged their legs under them in order to turn his way.

"Is that normally how you thank someone who saved your life?" the person asked almost like they were laughing behind the pain, the owner clearly a male in his twenties, "Because you could just say it instead of kicking me in the ribs which your friend already busted...ow."

"Tony's not my—" Clint stopped before stating the obvious and asking, "Who are you?"

There was no answer. There was a faint noise as the mysterious person shifted from whatever position they were in. A second later a hand touched the edge of Clint's bow. He jerked it back, and pointed it in the direction of the man.

"Take another step buddy and I'll skewer you. Now answer me. Who are you, and what do you mean that you saved my life?"

Whoever it was sighed quietly, "You seriously don't recognize me?"

"No," Clint said suspiciously tucking his legs under him in a springing position. His right one throbbed.

"Fine," the person sighed again as if they were feeling a bit nervous, "Just...give me a moment ok?"

A faint glimmer of gold light sparked in the pitch blackness. Clint was only able to catch a glimpse of the person as they grabbed something from the ground next to them. He was only able to register the color red before the darkness set in again. A moment later he felt something being pressed into his hands.

"Do you have an arrows that provide light?" the person asked sniffing cautiously as if he were about to sneeze, "Because I don't want to accidently ignite the methane."

"Methane gas?" Clint asked as he searched through the bustle of arrows using both his hands, "You're going to have to be more specific. Cause the only methane I know comes from cows, and Tony's lab when he destroying things in it."

"Pockets like this underground can hold it. I don't smell any off course...," the man said vaguely, "electricity tends to make it...uh...explode. Too bad we don't have a canary with us right now."

"Fun," the archer grunted as he pricked his finger on the tip of an arrowhead, "That way if the feather-ball died, we'd know we're screwed". He didn't even know why he was bothering striking up a conversation with someone he did not know. Slowly, and methodically Clint examined the tip of each arrow, knowing each one by touch instead of sight. Time was running out, but he didn't want to be blown up if he chose wrong. He had at least ten arrows. Six of them were broken and useless. The other four consisted of one grappling hook arrow and the other three regular tipped ones.

Before he could vocally proclaim his disgust and frustration, his hand collided with another object in the quiver. Excitedly, he ran his index finger carefully over the top and sighed with relief. It was a flashlight. After fumbling with it a bit, he eventually flickered it on.

Immediately, his pupils contracted painfully and he uttered a noise of complaint that sounded nonhuman, "Slurg..." An equally surprised cry let him know that his guest also had been surprised by the sudden flood of light.

"Gah...I feel like Dracula," the man muttered.

Clint almost dropped the flashlight. Crouched roughly five feet away from was the speedster. The man was blinked like an owl and had his face scrunched up as he shielded his face from the glare. Blood was encrusted on his cheek and he was clutching his side. Despite his face being tight with pain, he managed to give the archer a shaky grin.

"You sure have one hell of a kick," he croaked dropping his arm from his face, "I think you re-broke a couple of ribs."

"How...what..." the archer sputtered before managing to comprehend the thousand questions he had into one. He asked suspiciously, "Where are we?"

The Flash winced as he shifted his legs under him. His hand never left his side suggesting he hadn't been lying about breaking something, "Roughly a quarter of a mile below Manhattan would be my guess. In an air pocket surrounded by debris."

"And pray do tell how we survived?" Clint snapped.

"Phased through the molecules in the debris as well as the street," the speedster waved his free hand as if he were a stage magician completing an act, "Unfortunately, we were both knocked out but the concussive wave."

"Phased?" Clint used his bow to prop himself up on his feet, "I failed science class kid. You're going to have to be more specific."

"Molecules vibrate at different frequencies. I made my molecules match the speed of the ones in the air, debris and the ground so we...passed through them," The Flash cocked his head to the side, "Um. Should I simplify it?"

"No," the archer moaned clutching his forehead, the man reminded him a bit of Vision, "I got it."

He turned away from the speedster not wanting him to see his face. Though he was way different from Petro, there were some similarities between the two. The same impish grin, similar powers, and how their words betrayed the power within them. There was one thing that bugged him more and that was the question: why did the man save him?

Almost as if the speedster knew what he was thinking, he replied, "Look. I know you don't really trust me that much...and me not so much with you. But...I wasn't going to let you die."

"So why save me?" Clint turned back to face him. The Flash's face looked ghoulish in the light, and the air became even more stale as their quenched lungs sucked in the limited air.

The speedster shrugged, "Its what heroes do right?"

There was a groan above them and a shower of dust trickled down. Clint put his response to the side and shined the flashlight up to examine the ceiling above them. It was less than three inches above their heads. Carefully, he felt the concrete and found several weak spots in it.

"We're going to have to move...so lets continue this discussion later," he shone the flashlight back on the speedster's face, "Otherwise we're going to be pancaked."

"Great," the man stood up only to nearly whack his head on a piece of overhanging pipe, "Just when I actually started liking sitting in an air pocket with limited air in the dark."

"You're a glass-half full kind of guy aren't you?" Clint couldn't help but grin.

"When you're stuck on an alternate earth...why not?" the speedster grinned back and stuck his hand out, "Name's Barry."

"Clint," the archer stuck his hand out and quickly shook the other's hand before retracting, "So...Barry. Any clues about getting out?"

His tone was slightly sarcastic, but the other man clearly thought he was serious. The speedster traced his finger along the edges of a piece of debris, and rubbed the dust between his fingers. A thoughtful looking expression appeared on his face.

"It a mixture of bedrock and sandstone," he said brushing his hand on his pants, "Pretty stable considering this used to be swamp lands. But the water that was here also made this material rather weak."

"And this helps us...how?"

"We're going to have to watch out for weak spots," Barry shrugged and squinted into the darkness, "Which means we can't smack into things."

"Great," Clint groaned and trailed the flashlight around, "Sucks that we're both pretty tall."

A faint wisp of wind touched his cheek gently. Frowning, he turned in its direction of origin. Just barely out of the corner of his flashlight, he spotted a small gap in the rocks. It was tiny, only big enough for a mouse to get through. He walked over and brushed and lifted some of the debris out of the way finding a much wider gap behind it. Barry stood behind the archer, looking uncomfortable. Above them the ceiling rumbled and threatened to collapse; but fortunately it held until Clint made the hole big enough for them to squeeze through, one at a time.

"Hold this will you?" he asked holding the flashlight out behind him.

The speedster took it gingerly as if he expected it to explode. He trained the beam above them and peered nearsightedly at the cracks in the surface, but didn't say anything. But his body tensed up and the expression one his face reminded the archer of a fox that had strayed on his farm. The animal had been after the chickens, and when Clint had caught it, it had frozen and stared at him with determination and flight. That was the exact expression on Barry's face right now, one of flight and grim determination to survive.

It made Clint consider liking him.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" the speedster asked squatting down next to the archer, "Because if you don't, we're both dead."

Clint managed to wiggle his shoulder through the gap and grunted as a rock dug into his wounded shoulder, "Yeah. And could you...oh I don't know...vibrate us both through the rocks if they move again?"

He could almost see Barry's shrug though he had his back to him, "Saving you took a lot out of me. I was out cold until you kicked me awake. Its going to take a while to get my strength back...which means normal speed for maybe another hour or so."

"Great," Clint grunted as he continued crawling into the gap which widened into a tunnel, "Just when the idea of another person with super speed was growing on me."

"What?"

The archer ignored the question and inched his way forward a bit more. Light panned into the tunnel, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Barry peering through the entrance with the flashlight. Clint mumbled his thanks and moved forward a bit more. At this given point, he was glad he wasn't claustrophobic, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of panic as the ground above him shifted. If it caved in, no one would find them down here. They would be buried alive. Fortunately, the ground settled, and the archer continued to move forward.

His hand hit open air and he slid out into a wider space cloaked again in blackness. His lungs greedily sucked in the fresh air, albeit it smelling and tasting like fresh soil and cold stone.

Turning around, he bent down and shouted through the hole where the glimmer of light came from, "It opens up. Crawl through."

There was a faint rumbling noise that quickly quieted as soon as it started. He heard a mutter of complaint as the bobbling light came closer and closer. Eventually, Barry crawled out of the hole looking worse for the wear. His face was caked in dirt, his uniform was scratched up and torn, and the wound on his head appeared to be bleeding again as it glistened with fresh moisture on his cheek. But he still managed to smile and get to his feet, "Glad I'm not afraid of tight spaces."

Clint laughed, the sound echoing off the walls, "Hell...I'm used to spaces even smaller than _that_ and yet even I got scared."

Barry wordlessly handed the flashlight back over and gently touched the wound on his cheek. He winced but made no complaint. His mask was still on, though Clint could not understand why he kept it on since he knew his name.

The archer narrowed his eyes, "You're hurt."

"Not that bad," the speedster shrugged before grinning and saying in a mock British accent, "Its just a flesh wound."

It took two seconds before the movie reference clicked. Clint smiled slightly, "You have Monty Python in your universe?"

"Yeah," Barry's voice sounded pleased though the expression on his face was grave, "Speaking of hurt...you ok?"

"Fine," the archer grumbled before digging his bow into the ground below him and standing up. His leg had stiffened and he almost collapsed had it not been for the speedster catching him. He hadn't even seen the man move, which meant he probably had his powers recharging. Clint waved him off and propped the makeshift walking stick under his left armpit. He shone the flashlight around their surroundings.

It was a tunnel.

* * *

 **Another short chapter...but I didn't want to make the story drone on and seem like it was rushed.**

 **Atelophobia means fear of being inperfect. This extends to not having anything in order especially on tables. Dishes always have to match and have the same spacing between them, etc.**

 **Methane is highly explosive and it also reeks like cows. Don't ignite any unless you want people to call the police on you.**

 ***Edit: Added a bit more info in about methane thanks to a reviewer who pointed something out to me :) Thank you!**

 **~Sil**


	14. Chapter 14

**I seriously needed to spread out Barry and Clint's story. Gah. Eleven thousand words is way too long. I hope you guys enjoy this!**

 **Random Lady - Originally I was going to have them transport a few hours forward in time, but where's the fun in that? I feel that Barry and Clint would get along pretty well considering they have the same sense of humor (sometimes). Thanks for the compliment :)**

 **Blue/Bonfire - They get along well huh?**

 **Tenza - Put it this way, Clint is going to have respect for Barry now. Oliver...not so much XD**

 **Crystal - Yep. That's a total Oliver move.**

 **Amy - Thank you**

 **fan01 - I update when I can**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. DC characters belong to DC Comics/CW and Marvel characters belong to Marvel/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Under New York City_

 _8 hours earlier_

* * *

There were gaps in the ground below them full of twisted metal that were rusted out, a gleamed orange and black against the light. The coloration was so intriguing, that Barry couldn't help but bend down to gently run his finger against them. The metal crumpled to dust with his touch and left behind the smell of oxidized iron.

He stood up and winced as muscle stretched tightly against his ribs and hip. Hot pain spread up his side and made his neck feel as if it were on fire. To keep his mind off the discomfort, he kicked a pebble that was under his foot, "It was some type of rail system at sometime."

The rock bounced and the sound echoed as it danced down the corridor. Barry couldn't help but shutter, memories of the last time he had been underground flashing through his head. It had not entirely been pleasant. Hopefully, this New York would not live up to the term 'the concrete jungle'. By definition...no giant crocs...and no giant talking gorillas.

"Looks like this was part of the old subway system," Clint breathed shining the flashlight down the track, its light becoming swallowed up by the shadows, "Before the city closed it. Years ago no doubt. Like...my great-grandfather existence ago."

He stuck the device under his left arm pit and started digging furiously around in his pockets; finding nothing in his right. The archer extracted a hunting knife, a pack of gum from his the other pocket and cursed. He stuffed the knife into a hidden compartment under his suit before popping a piece of gum into his mouth and discarding its package into its original location.

Barry watched him curiously, wondering what the heck he had planned. But the speedster respectfully did not say anything, and trotted a little away from the archer, making sure to avoid the giant potholes in the ground. He crouched down and gently tapped his finger on the surface of the concrete. Even through his suit, he could feel the chilly air leaking up from the smooth ground, sanded down by rushing water. He glanced back at Clint who had likewise stopped and was bending over as if to tie his shoe, though he was clearly watching Barry out of the corner of his eye. His arms were bare and he could see that even that the man was a seasoned veteran, even he was shivering from the temperature.

Quietly, the speedster stood and walked back over still clutching his side. Clint suddenly pulled a rectangular shaped object from his boot, and his expression became excited.

"Oh...I am so going to make you eat your words Tony."

Seeing Barry's puzzled expression he explained his statement, "In case the string on my bow snaps...all I have to do is restring it. Tony thought me sticking it to the side of my shoe was a stupid idea." His face suddenly soured and he popped a bubble of gum he had formed, "Your archer friend actually made me start carrying a spare."

The speedster scratched the back of head sheepishly recalling what Oliver had told him, "First of all...doesn't that feel a tad bit uncomfortable? And second...yeah...I don't really think he is going to apologize for that."

Clint grunted but he had a smirk on his face, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me." He tossed the spool up in the air before catching it, "These old subway systems are like a labyrinth. Should have a way to backtrack without getting lost."

"We're going to have to watch out for floods," Barry said. He quickly explained his discovery. The archer's expression became just as grim and worried as his.

"Now we know where the water goes when it rains," Clint said shining the flashlight down on the floor below, "This place becomes an underground river."

He turned and shone the light on the pile of rocks they had been trapped under. The debris mass went up to the ceiling, squeezing any available light from above from shining. It was honestly terrifying, and Barry felt his lungs compress. Had he been a little slower...

He watched a Clint limp over to the rocks and quickly tie a knot around the twisted pieces of a water pipe. Water was dripping slowly out of the end of it, and splattered on his shoes as he worked. After a couple of minutes, he began to feed out the string until he reached where Barry was standing. Wordlessly, he handed the spool and a stick of gum to him before making his way painfully down the track. The speedster glanced back at their former prison, before hurrying after him—admitting slower than he had run had his powers been at their peak.

Along the way, he began to chew the gum wishing the entire time it had calories he could use. It tasted of mint, with an odd background taste that seemed almost medicine like.

"So..." he said slowing to a normal pace once he was standing directly next to the archer, "They call you Hawkeye?" He felt rather awkward; he didn't know how to make small talk in this type of situation.

"Got a problem with that kid?" Clint's voice was ragged with pain, but he still managed to sound sarcastic. He spat to the side and the glob of gum became a vibrant blue color on the black floor.

"No," Barry said quickly, "Just wanted to say its a cool codename. Cisco would be jealous."

"Cisco..." Hawkeye grunted and managed to pull himself forward before grimacing, "Is he the guy that Wanda was scaring the crap out of?"

The speedster did not respond, but the archer must have known the answer was yes, for he did not ask it a second time. Instead he picked up his pace with Barry following along. They traveled silently, the only sound they could hear was of their breathing and occasional settling of the foundation as a heavy vehicle ran over it from above. Clint clearly was in agony from his injuries, but he didn't slow, nor appear to want to stop.

Only twice they were forced to stop: once to replace the batteries in the flashlight and the second time to attach another spool of string to the one they were using. Then it was back to searching for a way out. Initially, Barry had offered to race ahead and try to find an exit quicker, but his companion had balked at the idea and said he would shoot him if he did. Clearly, he still had trust issues. Barry tried not to act disappointed and annoyed as they continued walking.

There was something strange about Clint's attitude. He seemed to be wary of Barry and familiar to his powers, which was rather strange since the latter had done nothing to hurt him nor had shown him all his abilities. The speedster had mentioned this, and was met with a glare that seemed to pale Oliver's in comparison. So, he shut his mouth and passed the time counting backwards from fifty-two thousand and watching as the concrete went to dirt before going back to cement.

After it seemed like they would never stop seeing graffiti, deserted passenger waiting ports and rats about the size of house cats, they reached a crossroads. The passage on the right was covered in spider webs and stank of mildew and things best left along. The one in front did not appear to have anything wrong with it. But...it still felt unpleasant. The one on the left was caved in, with an opening barely big enough to squeeze through.

With their injuries...it would be a good decision to choose another passage. Preferably the one that was less dangerous.

"Let's take a break," Clint broke the silence; his voice was weary and his breathing was ragged, "If I go any further...my leg is going to give out on me."

He collapsed against the side of the tunnel and dropped his bow in the dirt beside him. Barry stood uncomfortably above him and rubbed his foot into the patch of dirt that had been worn into the concrete slab. His legs didn't hurt, but his side and right hip were still throbbing like a drum. The archer looked at him and waved his hand, "Sit down will you? You're making me tired just looking at you."

Barry warily eyed him before quickly sitting on a gravel slab that jutted out, taking care to sit with his back to the wall and that he could keep an eye on the way that they came and the tunnels, but could also engage in a conversation. If Hawkeye found this strange, he made no comment. Instead, he stretched his injured leg out and sighed in relief.

"I'd spit that gum out I were you," Clint said noticing that Barry was still chewing it, "Its basically something that helps ease the pain but not to digest. Try to think of it as anesthetic gum."

"Creative," the speedster admitted but decided to continue to chew, hoping that for once pain-meds would work on him.

"If we get out of this alive, my friends are going to be in a shock," Hawkeye snorted with a slight grin as he dropped his head back against the wall behind him, "I bet Cap will lose five years to his life."

"Green Arrow is probably going to punch me in the face," Barry said gently rubbing his injured hip, realizing he probably broken his pelvis, "Hard."

He watched a trickle of water as it dribbled out of the end of a pipe next to him. He stuck his hand under it and found the water to be cold and fast moving suggesting it was pretty clean. By cupping his hand, he was able to collect some in the makeshift bowl.

"You're kidding me right?"

"No," the speedster chuckled washing some of the blood off his face with the water, "He's shot me in the back already...twice."

Clint snorted before picking up a pebble and flinging it accurately at a passing rat. The sound of a surprised squeak echoed through the tunnels before dying as the animal fled to hunt elsewhere. It seemed to ease the tension between the two and both of the men relaxed.

"God," the archer banged his head against the wall behind him again, "What I'd give for food right now. Even a freaking energy bar would do..."

Slowly and before he realized what he was doing, Barry extracted one of Cisco's bars from inside his shoe. Catlin had forced him to store them there for emergencies, and being a stubborn fool he initially refused to do so. Man...he was so glad she wasn't here to see this. Wincing from the effort as it was like trying to crack a brick in half, the speedster managed to snap off a piece about the size of a miniature rice cake; he handed it to Clint who eyed it suspiciously.

"Energy bar," Barry explained extracting the wad of gum from his mouth and wrapping it back up in the wrapper it had come from, "Tastes like cardboard."

"I have nothing against cardboard," the archer grinned, "So I won't mind."

He gingerly nibbled at the end of it and balked, the tip of his tongue hanging out of his mouth in disgust, "Gah. Yep...cardboard. Pttf. You should've mentioned sawdust while you were at it. Who the hell made these?" He bit off another chunk, face souring as he did, "They deserve to taste this with their eyes closed."

Barry snorted with a faint smile before taking a bite of the food. It slid painfully into his stomach which grabbed it, and demanded more. He took another bite and another until it was gone. Only then did he answer, "Ultra-high metabolism. I constantly need food...so my friend created this in order to keep up with the calories I burned. That's why I gave you a very small amount...its extremely potent."

The archer nodded thoughtfully before picking up another rock and throwing it at another rat—or perhaps the same one, drawn in by the smell of the energy bar—who came too close. The animal fled shrieking and both men relaxed once more the sound faded. They allowed their minds and bodies to heal during the temporary stop.

"If you don't mind me asking," Barry broke the silence. He paused before continuing, "That girl who was with you. You know the one with telekinesis? Um...why was she acting so..." He trailed off, unable to finish the statement.

The archer gave him a long look, "You're not going to let this go are you?" Seeing the speedster shake his head, Clint sighed, "She...had a brother who had powers like you. He was a bit of a dick...but he still was a good kid."

"Oh..." Barry bit his lip realizing that this speedster was perhaps this earth's version of him, "You said was."

There was absolute silence, a period that lasted so long that he was uncertain that Hawkeye would ever talk again. His rugged features were lost in the past and he appeared to be grieving. When he spoke, his voice had no emotion but yet seemed warmer than Oliver's tone when he spoke that way.

"He's dead," Clint replied flatly, "He saved my life...but died doing so." He tapped one of his unbroken arrows on the ground in front of him and stated scratching something into the soil, "Wanda took it rather hard. The whole team did. He was...not one of the good guys initially, but he made up for it in the end."

"I'm sorry," Barry truly was and knew how to form his words and tone so it sounded sincere and empathetic. He understood what it was like to lose a loved one, "What was his name?"

"Pietro." Hawkeye sniffed as if he were about to sneeze and continued to draw his design.

The speedster nodded slowly before saying quickly, "I'm sorry for allowing her to see me. If I had known—"

"Not your fault kid," the archer grunted smudging away his drawing with a quick swipe of his hand, "It would have happened eventually. Tony wouldn't have kept his trap shut around her." He paused for a moment and asked with a slight sigh and smile, "You have more questions don't you? Why do I get the sense you're a cop?"

"I'm not a cop," Barry he smiled faintly, "I just work for the police."

"That explains it. If you work for the police, then in my mind you are a police," Clint grumbled though kindly, "Okay. Fine." He held up his index finger,"You get one more question."

"Whose the red-haired lady?"

The archer eyed him curiously but his shoulder stiffened in surprise, "You mean Natasha? What about her?"

"Nothing," Barry tried to keep a straight face, "I just noticed that you guys seem very close. Before I blacked out...I heard her screaming."

It was a sound he never wanted to hear again. It was like his mother's cries the night she had been murdered. Barry's vision started to have black dots swarm in front of it, and he clutched his stomach to prevent himself from keeling over. _God_ , he thought, _Stop it Barry. This isn't the time for a memory attack_.

"She and I were partners in our old S.H.I.E.L.D days," Clint shrugged not noticing the speedster discomfort, "She has my back, I have her back etc. We're still partners actually...well were until the team split."

"S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"I forgot you aren't from around here," the archer remarked rubbing his leg, "Stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Former agent...I handed most missions until I joined the Avengers."

He stood up and braced his uninjured shoulder against the side of the tunnel. Barry did likewise and picked the flashlight and the spool of thread up, "Sound a bit like A.R.G.U.S. It stands for Advanced Research Group Uniting Super. Basically its a bunch of agents who go investigate inhumanly possible events pertaining to Meta...err...superhumans and aliens."

"And I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was a mouthful," Clint smirked.

Barry laughed and held their only light source up. He shone it into the two tunnels, "So which way?"

"When all else fails," Clint said trudging forwards, "Go forward. By which I mean...the one in front."

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Under New York City_

 _2 hours earlier_

* * *

Going forwards was the worst decision. Had bad luck been real, Clint would have been rather paranoid about black cats, walking under ladders, and broken mirrors. But he wasn't and had dismissed the whole ideology as bullshit.

Unfortunatly, it seemed to be laughing in his face.

They hadn't even gone a mile before some concrete gave way and almost took Barry with it. Unfortunatly, the man was not able to react in time and fell down through the hole to the level below them. The archer was quick and managed to snatch the Barry's arm leaving him dangling over an abyss. By using his left arm and leg as an anchor, he used his wounded arm in order to make the catch. The archer couldn't believe he managed not to pass out as he hauled the speedster up and over the gap, gritting his teeth to swallow the howls of pain. To the speedster's credit, he had not exactly gone limp, thus providing dead weight, and once his right foot touched the edge, he got out without assistance.

"Guess we're even," Barry deadpanned as he glanced down at the enormous sinkhole that had nearly swallowed him.

"Yeah," Clint couldn't help but whimper from stretching the bruised muscle out, "Man...karma's a bitch right now." He rubbed his right shoulder, grateful he hadn't dislocated it. Despite his thin build, Barry was honestly quiet heavy.

The speedster cracked a grin at the statement. He glanced down at the hole, muttered something under his breath and crossly kicked some dirt and rocks into it, "Next time...I rather fight a giant crocodile."

"At least the hole didn't have razor sharp teeth," the archer joked as they watched debris trickle into the gap.

"And hates bananas," Barry's statement sounded like a joke, but when Clint looked at his face he could sense there was a story behind his words and that he wasn't joking.

"Do I even want to know?"

"No," the speedster shook his head, "Trust me. You don't."

He turned so that his back was to the archer, shrugged the mask off his face and wiped his brow which was sticky with both sweat and dried blood. To Clint's surprise, the wound on the man's head was already half-way healed which should have been impossible considering by the amount plasma that had trickled out, the cut was down to the speedster's skull. Clint could not see much of the speedster's features as he had turned his back so that only part of his profile was visible; Clint estimated his age range young and his hair color a dark brown. Seeing the archer staring at him out of the corner of his eye, Barry without turning around asked suspiciously, "What?"

"Shouldn't you be in high school?" Clint said dumbly.

Barry pulled his mask on, turned, and gave him a lopsided grin, "I'm older than I look. You wouldn't believe how many times I'm teased about this. They used to call me 'baby-face' at the police force until—" he cut himself off and bit his bottom lip.

"Now you're making feel old..." the archer muttered noticing the hesitation but choosing not to point it out. He gestured to the side of his head in the position the other's wound was located, "How did that heal so quickly?"

The speedster didn't answer for a few moments. When he did, his answer was brief, "It wasn't too deep, so it scabbed over quickly."

"Kid...that wound was open a couple of hours ago," Clint sighed already tired of playing this game.

Barry shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about." He glanced down and watched as the pothole grew bigger, "Lets move before one of us falls through again. Stupid me. I should have been looking where I was going." The speedster trudged away, pretty soon only the gold highlights outlining his back were visible in the flashlight beam.

Clint muttered something non-complementary towards his companion and followed him. It was painful, hard work making it from point a to point b. A few times they had to stop and squeeze through fallen pillars in the tunnel. Other times, they had to skirt along the edges of the tunnel due to the weakness of the ceiling. To lighten the mood, Clint cracked a couple of jokes:

"What do you call a VW bus on the top of a hill?

"How long does it take Tony to change a light bulb?

"What kind of bagel can fly?

"What's Forest Gump's Password?

He only managed to produce a grim smile on the other. Short ridiculous stories also had the same effect. Apparently, after the incident with talking about his abilities, Barry had closed up...again.

It was also freaking cold. A couple time Clint found himself rubbing his arms and shuttering. His companion appeared not be doing any better; the tips of his lips were turning purple, just a shade below blue. The archer recognized it as early stages of hypothermia and realized that if the crushing debris above them didn't kill them, the cold would.

After a million hours, they arrived at an old maintenance door imbedded in the side of the wall. It was locked with a giant metal padlock holding the two doors together.

"Of course," Clint said sarcastically, "We almost died a couple of times...and the only thing that stands between us and freedom is a freaking door."

He set the flashlight down on the ground and removed a thin wire from the base of his shoe. Before, he could take a step forward and pick the lock, Barry wordlessly put his hand out; fingers together, hand turned so that his thumb was in the air and his palm was visible from the side. His hand started vibrating so fast that it appeared to be just a scarlet blur with gold color electricity sparking off it. The speedster, put his hand on the chain and with a metallic tinkle it fell to the ground, the ends glowing red and white from the melted metal.

"That's hell of a way to open a door," the archer commented with a low whistle.

Barry made no comment but struggled to wrestle the door open more than an inch. A couple of spiders scurried out and crawled over their feet in order to get to the shadows around them. Clint not caring he'd squashed a few, stuck the flashlight under his arm and braced his uninjured arm against the door to assist the man. With a high pitch squeal, the corroded metal eventually listened to their efforts and opened. Breathing heavily, both men did not enter. Hawkeye shown the flashlight up the stairwell and panned it back and forth across the stairs. He didn't see anything wrong with them...but the beam of light only went so far.

"Perhaps we should..." he started to say before the speedster quite literally flew past him.

Electricity sparked off Barry as he shot up the stairs, gone before Clint could finish blinking. There was an uncomfortable silence as the archer realized that he was now alone. Mentally, he cursed himself for not doing anything to prevent the speedster from doing this. Before, he could start the uncomfortable, agonizing, journey up the stairs, he heard the sound of rushing wind blowing down the stairwell and a yellow glow at the top. Barry suddenly materialized leaning against the wall, gasping for air and clutching at his ribs. The archer couldn't help but jump back away from the speedster and was rewarded with a pain emanating from his injured leg.

He swallowed the swear he had prepared and chose to glare; an expression that was ignored.

"Stairway is...safe..." Barry wheezed, his legs quivering slightly from the strain, "Door...is...rotten shut. But...its clear..."

"I thought you ditched me," Clint admitted.

The speedster grinned while he kept breathing heavily, "Heh. Sorry...needed...to...stretch...my...legs."

He clapped his hand on the wall next to him and motioned that Clint would go first, bowing slightly as he did. Being a mature grown man, the archer stuck his tongue out at him before limping past him. They were rather quiet on the way up, maybe it had something to do with them getting out of the pits of Hell. Instead of being hot, their prison was cold. The last leg of the journey did not go without its hazards.

Once, Hawkeye slipped and put his hand out to catch himself. Upon feeling something slimy, he recoiled in disgust. He didn't even want to smell whatever it was. Barry didn't seem to find their surroundings particularly gross, but he had his nose wrinkled up as if the stench in the corridor bothered him.

There was a sudden loud snap, and the speedster swore as he jumped into the air. He dropped the spool of thread in his surprise. The sounds were so explosive that Clint would have thought a bomb had gone off if he hadn't seen what had been dropped and activated. Barry bent over, and with a wince extracted an ancient rat trap from the tip of his shoe.

"I didn't step on this the first time I ran through here," he grumbled, "At least we know this stairway is...or was used for maintenance."

"Guess so," Clint frowned as he paned the flashlight around exposing corroded and dangling wires which looked like grabbing fingers, "I've seen a lot of creepy things in my life that haven't scared me...but I have to admit this is a bit scary."

"This better not be a Friday the Thirteenth set up," Barry commented as he hopped up another stair before turning to check on Hawkeye, "If a guy wearing a hockey mask appears...I'm getting us out of here. I don't care if I pass out later from the effort."

Clint had to grin even though the speedster sounded serious about the joke, "If a guy wearing a hockey mask appears...how about you let me shoot him _before_ we get out of here? We can't have a maniacal psychopath roaming the streets."

Barry snickered though not unpleasantly, "God...then you better not come to a horror movie marathon. You and Green Arrow would probably shoot every actor who was paid to scare people."

Hawkeye had no comment to that, but had to begrudgingly agree to the speedster's statement; the archer hated being jump scared...a fact that Tony tried and later regretted. Slowly but surely they eventually reached the final step that was barred by a tall metal door. It was swollen shut and riveted with rusted holes that had insets nesting in them. Clearly, this corridor had not been used for a long time.

Clint used his bow to prod the corded metal, causing parts of the door to cave in on itself, "What I'd give for one of your friends cryorrows."

"At least you call it by the correct name..." Barry grumbled from somewhere behind him, "Arrow _hates_ that term. He just call it an ice arrow...or trick arrow...or whatever."

"Does that guy _not_ hate anything?"

The archer turned back to the speedster who had his chin resting on his knuckles as he considered this statement. When he spoke, he shrugged with a faint smile, "Nah. He hates most things. He likes me and several of his teammates...which must count for something."

Clint grunted in response and turned back to the door. He very carefully used one of his regular tipped arrows to chip away at the hinges of the door. He would have preferred to lock pick it, but there was no lock to use a wire on. Barry also helped. He stood on his tip toes and started heating up the metal of the top hinge until it completely melted; taking care not to allow the molten metal to drip onto his companion. Then he moved onto the middle one while Clint worked on the bottom one. It was hard, slow work, and both men soon became chilled from their efforts. This did not help that they were in a room that was cold enough to store meat in.

With a faint groan, the door began to tip over and Clint stepped to the side to avoid getting his toes squashed. The door smashed into the stairwell and slid down it like a ski slope before smashing into the darkness below. Barry took a step after it and surveyed the torn up pavement it left behind, "That's hell of a way to open a door."

"I copyright that statement," Clint jeered but he grinned.

He smelled the stinky city air, one he hated in comparison to the fresh air he normally got by the farmhouse. But at this point, he didn't even care if it smelled of rose petals and violets...he was just glad he was out of the old subway system. Hawkeye walked out of the tunnel and shielded his eyes from the glare of a street light. The air was not much warmer in the city but he basked in it. A shuffling noise behind him, made him turn his head to see the speedster step out of the dark doorway. The man's face was pale and his bottom lip was bleeding from where he bit it in his pain. But it didn't stop him from smiling.

"Never thought I'd say that the next time I do something this stupid," he huffed, "I'm going to let Catlin chew me out for two hours straight."

"Catlin?" Clint mused before saying slyly, "She's your girlfriend?"

Barry's face turned a perfect shade a red matching his suit's normal color, "What!? NO! She's just a friend...co-worker...teammate...whatever." He paused as he rubbed his injured ribs, "And before you say 'yeah...sure buddy', I'm going to tell you...I'm serious."

"Just teasing you kid," the archer smirked.

He limped forward and surveyed the street. There wasn't a single taxi in sight. He sighed. Even if there was one...he was not about to call it over. Lord knew what the price on their heads were after the giant fight in Manhattan. Clint sighed before shuffling back over to the speedster, "Can you run?"

Barry shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He stopped the second he felt a miniature mud slide cascade down his back, "Maybe. Ribs are still busted...and my hip is killing me. I hope you don't get motion sickness."

"You're looking at the man who managed to hold on to his lunch on the hardest ride on Coney island and the Kingda Ka," Hawkeye scoffed, "I can handle speed."

The speedster shrugged again, "I guess so." He did another awkward pause, "I need to pick something up first, and then give me directions to wherever you guys hang out. Your layer...I mean."

Clint snorted, "Better not let Tin Man hear you say that. He'd get insulted."

Barry rolled his eyes before grabbing ahold of him, making sure to place his hand carefully behind the archer's head to prevent his neck from snapping from the whiplash. In a split second, both of them were gone, leaving only swirling newspapers and the smell of burnt rubber behind.

* * *

 **That was a long chapter. I probably will not update for a while because it. Hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **Here are the answers to the jokes I gave.**

 **What do you call a VW bus on the top of a hill?—a miracle. (Some VW are notorious for sputtering to top of a large hill)**

 **How long does it take Tony to change a light bulb?—Three hours since there was Vaseline rubbed all over the bulb. (Clint...was this joke necessary to play on Stark?)**

 **What kind of bagel can fly?—a plain bagel (This was corny)**

 **What's Forest Gump's Password?—1Forest1 (Get it? Run, Forest, Run?)**

 **Kindga Ka is the world's tallest roller-coaster and the second fastest in the world. Its located in Jackson, New Jersey. I've never been on it personally, but I've heard rumors its scary fast.**

 **~Sil**


	15. Chapter 15

**Last chapter took forever to write. This one might not so much. To be honest I don't even bother counting out the words this time XD. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Please review. There were not many last chapter, and a big gracious thank you to you lovelies who did! You made this chapter possible.**

 **Random Lady: Thank you. Backstories will be explained slowly, I hate making them said too quick.**

 **Crystal: XD Would you like actually having a real prank pulled on Stark in the story?**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters rightfully belong to DC Comics/CW Channel, and Marvel Comics/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _23:15 hours_

* * *

Clint ended up on having the last say. Quite literally. And he had to end it by saying, "I spent at least five minutes puking my guts out on the front porch. You might want to clean it up."

The speedster remained silent, and for good reason. After their first trade off, Barry had leaned to the side and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, with his arm propped up. By the part with them busting the maintenance door down, he was snoring. When the archer finally finished their story and his disgusting statement, the speedster was out cold with his nose resting in the crock of his elbow, muffling the sounds of his breathing.

"You're not going to be able to make him move," Cisco warned Steve who was bending down to wake him, "Even if you did...he'd tell you to get lost. And I quote from the last time I made that mistake...'bug off'...or something like that. I actually think he cursed something worse than that."

Cap sighed and sat back on the sofa, ideally picking up the crumpled package of gummy worms from between the cracks in the cushions. Even with the serum, he still felt tired, though not as bad as the others. Tony had nearly pitched forward before snorting himself awake, and Wanda kept pinching her arm to keep herself from yawning. Even Clint looked like he was about to nod off. The only one who really didn't look tired was Oliver, who had finally removed his hood halfway between the story. The speedster had done likewise, therefore identifying them as the men, Steve had bumped into days before. At this point...he wasn't too shocked about the realization. He was still trying to get over the fact his friend had not died.

"Barry? Tell _you_ to bug off?" Kara asked with a teasing grin.

"Girl...you haven't seen him when he hasn't gotten enough sleep. He makes Oliver seem downright cheerful. I rather wake him with an intercom...least then I have five seconds before he swipes at me."

So they decided to leave him to sleep on the couch, though Tony put up quite a complaint about the possibility of the speedster drooling on the furniture.

"Its genuine leather," he whined, "Do you have _any_ idea how long it took to get the _complete_ set!?"

Natasha snapped, "Shut it Stark."

Tony did the best thing; he clamped his mouth shut. Wanda twirled her hair with her index finger, "So...now what?"

There was a brief bit of silence. Then Steve spoke.

"I say we help them."

"Second it," Clint said somberly, "And before you complain, I will tell you my reasons why I agreed with Cap."

"Why?" Tony apparently couldn't keep his mouth shut for more than a few minutes, "Why should we help them after _they_ attacked us?"

"Sitting right here you know..." Kara waved her hand and pointed at Oliver.

"Well...I might help you since you are pretty..." Stark said with a slight smile.

The Kryptonian stared at him as if he had spoken to her in Martian—a language she understood and knew someone who spoke it fluently—but this was unknown to any of the Avengers. They understood that if Tony kept talking, she might punch him again. ' _Or more likely slap him'_ , Steve mused silently to himself.

"Couldn't you go for one day without trying to hook up with a woman?" Hawkeye rolled his eyes.

"Oh please Barton. Like you didn't do that yourself. Guess you stopped after you married."

Steve stuck his hand out before the archer could lay his own blow on Tony's smug expressions. Though he was injured, the archer could put up quite a fight if given the chance. Oliver leaned forwards and coughed. His expression had softened slightly upon hearing their discussion, but whatever he was thinking could have been anything.

"Continue Clint..." Cap said gently.

Hawkeye sighed and sat back, trying to compose the ticked off expression on his face, "The kid saved my life didn't he? The least we can do is help them get home."

"And how will we know they won't come back and attack with an army?" Tony countered.

"You have my promise we won't," Oliver's voice was soft, but was hardened and threatening.

"And how will we know you'll keep it?" Steve asked.

"I always try to uphold my promises," the green archer turned to glare at him with one eye, "And at any rate...your earth has no use to me. I already have my territory on my earth. Why should I forcefully take control of something that isn't mine?"

"Your...earth?" Wanda's voice quivered slightly with curiosity and awe.

Oliver remained silent.

"Something worth talking about tomorrow," Kara interjected cheerfully before saying nervously, "If that is alright?"

Steve inclined his head. Clint and Natasha likewise did so, while Wanda gave a slight smile to the Kryptonian who smiled back. Tony sighed and sat back, knowing he was beat. That didn't stop him from grumbling all the way back to his workplace and slamming the door shut loudly. Amazingly, it didn't even make the speedster stir; though the sound even made Steve wince. The captain stood and crossed his arms as he surveyed their three guests. Cisco was already leaning against Kara and was snoring softly. Drool leaked out of the corner of his mouth and made a puddle on his jacket.

"I got him," she said picking him up and carrying him fireman style without any hint of strain on her face, "Do you have somewhere I can take him?"

"I'll show you..." Natasha said standing up.

They walked away. Steve and Clint turned their head to see Oliver already standing at the end of the hallway holding the backpack Barry had brought; they hadn't even seen him move. He waited grimly until the two women passed by him, before silently following them.

"That guy creeps me out..." Clint muttered.

He likewise stood up and limped up the stairs to his room. Steve watched for a while before shutting the light of and locking the door of his sleeping quarters. It took a while for him to fall asleep. When he did...his dreams were plagued with nightmares.

* * *

 _Earth Unknown: Location_ — _Avengers Tower_

 _10:15 hours_

* * *

The next thing Tony knew...it was morning. Which led up to his current problem. How was he going to make Mr. Grumpy Pants actually smile? He made the entire kitchen atmosphere seem gloomy. Which was a big no-no this late in the day.

He watched as Cap calmly moved his bowl of cereal to the side, a split second before a glob of butter splattered onto the dining table. Steve briefly glanced up at the ceiling where the grease was slowly dripping. He sighed and dug his spoon into the drowned wheat flakes. _'So much for a peaceful breakfast'_ , he seemed to be thinking.

Finding rooms for their guests had proven particularly difficult the night, or early morning, earlier. Considering most of the spare rooms were taken up with piles of boxes Tony was too lazy to sort through...he had crammed both Oliver and Cisco into one room and Kara in another. He had promised them that he would air the rooms out today, allowing them to have quarters until they found a way home. Unfortunatly, it seemed it wouldn't be the case since for a while; he was too busy flinging his own breakfast at Oliver who had his back towards him in an effort to make the man at least have a reaction. Judging that he was not yet six feet under...he either had not made a single well-placed shot...or Oliver was completely ignoring him.

 _What I give for an target lock device right now_ Tony thought wistfully.

Steve apparently was hoping it was the latter as he moved slightly closer to the two. It had only been fourteen hours since the two teams had not made any attempts to kill each other.

At least on the bright side, their present guest had exchanged the Robin Hood outfit for a grey T-shirt and dark pants.

Tony heard a muffled shuffling noise and saw Cisco slide into a chair at the farthest end of the table. He didn't have any food which was actually fortunate, since the second he sat down a blueberry smashed in front of him, spraying his face liberally with blue stains. Tony hadn't even realized that he had thrown it, and whistling innocently he hid the container with the fruit under the table.

"Morning," Cap said pleasantly handing Cisco a napkin.

"At least you're a morning person..." he muttered wiping the gunk off his face with the cloth, "Oliver nearly killed me just for walking through the door of the room when I tried going to the restroom. Who the hell keeps a freaking knife under their pillow?"

"Former League of Assassins member," Oliver grumbled as he leaned forward to cross his arms on the table surface, his bare arms rubbing against the marble, "What have I told you about waking me up?"

"And where did you get the knife?" Tony demanded.

Both men ignored him. Cisco stuck his tongue out defiantly at Oliver before opening up the backpack the speedster had brought the day before. Ramon dug around in it and removed a tool case before placing his two gauntlets down on the table and stated using a screwdriver to fiddle with them (obviously he had retrieved them from the lab they were being stored in). Tony immediately appeared at his side and picked one of them up. He scrutinized it. It looked like an early prototype of his armor/repulser blaster. Though he did not want to admit it out loud, he was rather impressed by the other inventor's creation. Especially when they shot out concussive waves...that would be an cool addition to his armor.

"You made these?" he asked, "What do they do?"

"They explode in anyone's hands but my own," Cisco scowled snatching it away from him, "Don't you have a suit to repair?"

The dig stung, but Tony had heard worse. He eyed the other man with an inch of grudging respect, realizing that he was rather similar with several of his responses and his I.Q level. At some point, that was going to get annoying.

"I have a backup...so no," Tony smirked before sitting in the chair next to him and dangling the screwdriver he had swiped in front of the other's eyes, "So...what do they do?"

"Oliver shoot him for me will you?"

"Rather not," the archer had a faint smile on his normally sour face, "We want to maintain peace...and in order to do that perhaps it will be best not to kill each other if we annoy one another."

"Agreed..." Steve put in before dropping his spoon in the half-eaten soggy cereal with a disgusting plop—appetite completely gone.

He pushed the bowl away from him and folded his arms across his chest. Carefully, he surveyed the room. Kara was no where in sight...he had no idea where she was. Nor Barry. Wanda was still asleep in her room. Though he had his suspicions that she awake and was hiding in it to postpone talking to the speedster. Clint suddenly appeared in the doorway, yawning so loudly that he cracked his jaw. His arm and leg were bandaged neatly.

His hair was a complete mess and he was wearing an oversized tee-shirt that looked as if he had been attacked by a raccoon in the night. On top of it, he was barefoot. It made him look like he was not at all threatening, almost harmless, but he still had his bow slung over his shoulder. Clint sat in the chair directly across from Oliver who eyed him calmly, though both soon took up a glaring contest; it lasted about thirty seconds.

"What's that on your face?" Hawkeye broke off his stare and turned to look at Cisco who still had blueberry smeared over parts of it; particularly by his hairline.

Without even looking up from his work, the man pointed at Tony before wrestling the screwdriver out of his hand. He seemed to be engrossed in his work, despite Tony peppering him with questions.

"How did you make these? Did you make them solar powered? They look as if you made it solar powered. What material is it made out of? Titanium/copper alloy huh? Can it do anything else besides shoot out concussive waves? I'm guessing you somehow focused those waves so that they come out of center of your palm, thus improving your aim and accuracy."

"I thought escaping from H.R. at least for a couple of days would be nice," Cisco sat back and groaned silently, "And now I have to deal with someone who is a cross between me and him."

Before Tony could throw an insult of his back, there was a sudden rush of air. Stray papers and napkins flew everywhere as a miniature hurricane came through the kitchen. Barry suddenly materialized and dropped an overstuffed McDonald's bag on the table. He seemed to be in high spirits and did not seem to be in any amount of pain as he was yesterday. There wasn't even a single mark on his forehead where there was a nasty gash the day before. Somehow, he'd also managed to go dress shopping so he was not longer dressed up as a Cosplay character. Instead he looked a normal person wearing skinny jeans and a dark red jacket with black burn marks on the side which were still smoking from his re-entry.

"Sorry it took me so long," he said as Cisco grabbed the smoking bag and began rooting through it, "The lines were ridiculous all over the city...so I ran all the way to New Jersey to pick up the food."

Clint grabbed an Egg McMuffin out the now burning bag as if it were an everyday occurrence and took a big bite out of it, apparently thinking _screw table manners, I'm starving_ , "Consiperting dis is frm Dersey...I haf to say it isn't haph bad."

Tony coughed, "So uh...Speedy. Care to explain how you got your powers? Not from a extra-terrestrial source I hope."

Barry's face immediately became guarded and he took a few steps back away from the table. For a moment it appeared he had lighting in his irises, but...that could not be possible right?

"Pardon Big-mouth," Clint said before taking another bite and continuing through a mouthful of his breakfast, "He sprouts fings out of his mmouth phaster than his braiwn can procesf them."

Stark groped for a comeback, but found none. Instead he resorted to sticking his tongue out at the archer who gave him an smug smirk in return. Beat at his own game, the former play-boy sat back in his chair with a sigh and pulled up a hologram in order to play Solitaire on it. Steve swatted the miniature bonfire out and waved the smoke away. He did not even seem the least bit surprise that someone had managed to ignite a greasy fast food restaurant take out bag with just their hands.

Then again, Capsicle had come a long way from waking up seventy years in the future.

Tony made one wrong move and had F.R.I.D.A.Y say in response, " _Good try sir. However, it is an illegal move to put a King of Hearts with the Queen of Diamonds_."

"You have A.I?" Cisco put the screwdriver down, and had a wide grin on his face, "Sick."

"Huh...oh yeah," Tony had completely forgotten he had been sitting there, "Her name is F.R.I.D.A.Y. Say hi F.R.I.D.A.Y."

He shrunk the game down and tossed into a holographic image of a trashcan to show his annoyance in how the computer had rigged it in its favor.

" _Hello Mr. Ramon_."

"That is so trippy," the Latino man had a giddy expression on his face, similar to a child going to Disney Land.

"At least it sounds better than the 'A.I.' Felicity set up in the lair," Oliver responded, "It even gives me the creeps."

Cisco feigned shock when he turned to the archer, "Felicity set up an A.I. system and didn't even bother to tell me about it?"

"To be fair we haven't exactly told her about the blaster gun," Barry slid into a chair as far away as he could get from Tony—it was next to Oliver but across the way from Cisco and Clint. There was a faint burning smell of rubber, suggesting his shoes had been melted partially.

"Do I even want to know?" Oliver asked.

"No," the speedster had a queer expression on his face, almost as if he was considering laughing or smirking, "Catlin has forbidden Cisco from using Star Trek quotes whenever he pulls it out to work on it."

"What can possibly be wrong with saying ' _set your phasers to stun_ '?" Cisco challenged, "I only blew the lab up _once_ after saying that." Barry had a wide grin on his face as he tried to hide his laughter; even Oliver had cracked a small smile.

Steve regarded the petty argument between the three in surprise. It shouldn't even be called arguing. Though it was clear that the three had their differences, it was amazing to see how they accepted them and continued to get along. They treated each other was equals, and continued to have each others backs. It made him wish his own team would have that mentality again.

"Then you and Tony should get along great," Clint said gleefully, "He blows up half the crap in his lab almost everyday." He plunked his bow down on the table and propped one of his bare feet on the edge of the furniture.

"Stuff it Barton," Stark grumbled, "And get your stinking feet off my table."

"Make me," the archer jeered, but he put his foot down all the same.

There was a sudden buzzing noise, and Cisco let out an excited yelp. Brandishing the screwdriver like a sword, he jumped up and started cursing and grinning, "Eat your heart out multiverse. I just did the freaking impossible."

Barry calmly reached across the table and gently picked up one of the gauntlets. He lightly touched the wires and examined it on all sides. It was clear that he knew what he was doing. Lightly, he said, "I'm guessing our ticket home is ready?"

"Not just ready," Cisco smirked, "Armed and ready to go. I just need to recalibrate my goggles and its homeward bound. Oh and I found out what earth we are on."

"Which is?" Oliver asked testily.

"Earth 191612," Ramon said mimicking the archer' dry tone before clapping his hand proudly on the top of his gauntlet, "Say that three times fast."

"So you're talking about the multiverse theory?" Tony shook his head, "That's more fiction than fact. I admit other dimensions and _aliens_ exist...but that's an entirely different ball game."

"Some of us don't speak Star Trek," Clint grumbled, "Or Joel Silver."

Barry plucked a napkin out of the shredded and charred remains of the McDonald's take out bag. Calmly, he extracted a red felt pen from his jeans pocket, and scribbled a more or less perfect circle on its surface.

"That looks like a beach ball," Tony pointed out.

The speedster ignored him, and spoke in a calm, almost teacher like voice with a shiver of excitement behind his words, "There are multiple earths. They vibrate at different frequencies so they cannot see each other. Each one is a different copy from itself. Or maybe they have an alternate reality from what we are used to." He scribbled another few circles next to the original one.

"You are now drawing bubbles," Tony said dryly.

Steve coughed silencing him instantly. Feeling slightly foolish, Stark sat back in his chair and tried to look interested as Barry continued explaining slowly and in a way the others could understand. He couldn't help but be impressed; the speedster was obviously very intelligent...which Tony had doubted at first, considering that Mr. Allen had run up the side of a collapsing building.

"This earth, maybe dinosaurs were not wiped out and humans live alongside them," Barry pointed to one of the bubbles and moved onto another, "The Titanic didn't sink on this one. The U.S won the Vietnam War here. On this one Ronald Regan was assassinated—"

"One where we're evil?" Clint asked with interest, "Because if there is...I don't know whether to be creeped out or interested."

"Been there...it totally sucks and is creepy as hell. Anyways...maybe here the South won the Civil War; slavery was never abolished. England won the revolutionary war, thus making the U.S be apart of England during modern times. Maybe the Nazi's won World War II on this one," Barry paused for a moment to rub the side of his nose before continuing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony notice Steve stiffen. Oliver clearly noticed, as he eyed Cap impassively before turning back to his friend. Barry hadn't met any harm, obviously, but suddenly Stark felt the urge to punch him. He doubted he'd hit him though...he had seen how fast the kid could move.

"Now if you were to move fast enough, and vibrate at just the right frequency," the speedster drew a line between two of the globes (Tony decided to be polite and call them that), "You could pass through the barrier separating the earths...and end up on a new one."

"You just popped the bubbles," Tony noted.

Barry sighed and put the pen down, "Its a pathway...Mr. Stark." His voice though respectful, held a slight bit of annoyance in it, "We just need to find the right one. Cisco's gauntlets, and goggles are going to help with that."

"How?" Steve asked before turning to Cisco who had turned red in the face from more likely embarrassment than chagrin, "As far as we know...he can shoot out concussive blasts from them."

"Cisco," Oliver said roughly, "Can...open portals to other...earths. More or less...we are going to have depend on him to bring us home."

"How'd those words taste coming out of your mouth?" Cisco taunted.

The archer glowered at him and didn't answer. Tony wanted to throw his own statement, but Oliver obviously predicted he would, for he gave a glare that clearly said, _say one word, you're dead_. So Stark did the smartest thing, he did not state the zinger he had prepared. Clint clearly saw this and had a smirk on his face, "Well what do you know. You made motor-mouth quiet. Queen...you may be an ass...but you just gained my respect."

Oliver grunted and picked an orange up from a bowl on the table. He examined its surface and turned it slightly in his hands, but did not eat it. It was hard to guess what he was thinking at the moment. An uneasy silence fell across them. Barry fidgeted slightly, and Tony got the impression he wanted to leave, but stayed out of politeness or perhaps support for his teammates.

It was only when Natasha walked in the room did the silence break. But the thick ice did not seem as if it would ever crack all the way through.

* * *

 _Earth_ 191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _12:30 hours_

* * *

"I've become so numb, I can't feel you there  
Become so tired, so much more aware  
By becoming this all I want to do  
Is be more like me and be less like you"

Wanda sat back and allowed the music to flood over her. She had to admit that she understood why Americans listened to songs depending on their mood. Fortunately, she was sitting on the roof with the radio next to her, allowing ultimate privacy and serenity. Below her, the tops of sky scrapers and apartments reached for her toes. But...she didn't mind the danger. Even with the threat of a freak gust of wind blowing her off the edge didn't scare her. Closing her eyes, she fell onto her back on the warm concrete and closed her eyes, allowing the music to sweep over her.

Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control  
'Cause everything that you thought I would be  
Has fallen apart right in front of you

Images of her brother flashed behind her eyes lids. Of the people she accidently killed when deflecting the bomb into an embassy building. Wanda shuttered as the music appeared to grow louder in volume as each image became more and more vivid.

"Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow  
Every step that I take is another mistake to you  
Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow  
And every second I waste is more than I can take!"

A shadow fell over her and a concerned voice said, "You okay?"

Her eyes snapped open and she shot up; knocking the radio over the building in the process. She managed to encase it a protective bubble with her magic and brought it back before it could kill anyone below. Breathing heavily, she snapped it off and turned to look who had spoken to her. Her heart sunk upon noticing who it was.

It was Kara.

The blond haired woman cocked her head to the side and pushed the pair of glasses resting on her nose up so they no longer dipped down. It was amazing to see how a simple pair of eyewear could make her unrecognizable. Instead of threatening, Kara looked rather...human. The skinny jeans and white blouse also helped her blend in.

"Sorry," she apologized and sat down next to Wanda, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," Wanda muttered, her accent deep in her throat.

She chastised herself mentally for even thinking that it would be Barry. Clint had obviously told the speedster about her brother. Even though she couldn't read Barry's thoughts, the sympathy and empathy radiating off him was so strong that even Tony would have sensed it—even though he did not seem to read or get emotional at times. The speedster seemed like he wanted to approach her, but also avoided her, no doubt not wanting to hurt her. A lump appeared in Wanda's throat and she struggled to swallow it.

She did want to talk to him. She _needed_ to talk to him. She wanted to know...why he himself had the same amount of pain she felt, every time she thought about her brother. Then again...she wanted to avoid him in order to prevent him from reminding her of Pietro's powers.

"Needed time to think huh?" Kara sighed slightly and leaned backwards, using her arms to balance herself.

Wanda looked through the curtain of hair slashed across her face out at the city and spoke, "Yes. Just needed...to clear my head."

The Kryptonian stuck her bottom lip out as she contemplated something, "Barry wanted me to talk to you. He...wanted to say that he was sorry about...what happened to your brother."

Wanda sucked in a deep, shaking breath, trying to keep her emotions in check, "So...Clint did tell him. And he to you."

"If you are afraid about Barry telling everyone else...you don't have to worry," Kara turned to look the Maximoff in the eye, "He promises to be discrete. I only found out because he talks in his sleep."

Seeing Wanda's stunned look, she was quick to add, "I didn't mean I slept with him." She laughed, "Rao no. I meant...I heard him from the broom closet I was confined to and confronted him about it in the morning. He made sure we were alone when he answered."

"Oh..." that made Wanda feel a bit better, "What does Rao mean?"

"It is just an old word for my planet's sun," Kara said with a shrug before looking away and into the sky, "And sometimes a curse."

"You're...alien correct?"

Kara nodded and sighed deeply, "I am the last of my kind. Cept for my cousin and I...there are no other Kryptonians alive." She turned and said rather sadly, "So I guess we both know what it is like to lose someone that we love."

Wanda allowed this particular statement to settle in before she spoke hesitantly, "Your...parents?"

The other woman nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell across them. In the distance there was a sound of an ambulance. Kara stiffened, and then relaxed as she pondered something. She muttered something under her breath Wanda could barely make out. The Kryptonian seemed anxious to leave, but realizing that the gust of wind that accompanied her exits, she decided against it.

"Sorry about...um...throwing stuff at you," Wanda offered lamely.

Kara grinned widely, "No biggie. I've already forgiven you." She appeared to be thinking about something for a moment, "How about we put the whole...big fight thingy behind us?"

"Friends?" Wanda asked.

The other woman nodded, "Friends. So as long as you don't tell Tony, I actually enjoyed handing his behind to him."

Both girls exploded into laughter, picturing Stark's face if he heard what they were talking about.

"I'm interrupting something?"

This statement came from Oliver who was standing with one foot on the top of the helipad, and other down on the hidden stairwell. He stood with his back to the wind and appeared to rather unperturbed and unafraid of the drop off around him. His bow was slung carelessly over his shoulder and he was wearing a thin black windbreaker whipping around him with the gusts of wind.

"No," Kara said with a quick smile, "Just...hanging out."

Oliver grunted and adjusted the bow on his shoulder, "Cisco repairing his gear. Barry is checking the tower out. Just wanted to see you were doing."

"What gear?" Wanda asked.

The archer looked at her expressionlessly before sliding his eyes back over to Kara who was staring at him expectantly. Wanda didn't even need to attempt to read his mind to sense his distrust of her. She sighed softly and wrapped her red jacket around herself tighter. Yet another person who was afraid of her abilities.

"You'll see..." Oliver flickered his eyes over to Wanda, nodded curtly to her before stalking down the stairwell out of sight.

* * *

 **So the earth number is finally revealed. I decided to do a mixture of numbers: 19 symbolizes the official MCU earth of 19999, 16 represents the classic Marvel universe of 616, and 12 represents the year the first Avengers movie came out in 2012.**

 **I know this chapter was not really full of action...but it was a blasted filler chapter. I hate these...but they are necessary.**

 **Big thank you to** **Cajun Strong Man for many ideas of alternate history on other earths :)**

 **Song is called 'Numb' by Linkin Park. I felt parts of it were appropriate for Wanda's situation.**

 **~Sil**


	16. Chapter 16

**I decided to reopen with our friends on the other earths. This chapter will mostly be focused on them than the others on Earth 191612. Instead of one entry for Team Arrow/Flash/Supergirl there will be two.**

 **Sorry for taking such a long break. School has been wrapping up and I'm a nervous wreck. Not to mention I am not pleased at all with the ending for the Flash season finale. I know it was noble for Barry to do that...but come on. He's the heart of the show!**

 **Hopefully he only stay away for a little while (like one episode) in Season 4.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _ **Shout outs**_

 **Tenza: Go right ahead. I don't mind.**

 **Random Lady: (Tune of choice: Eve of Destruction that suddenly goes to Celebration Time Come On). I felt it was necessary to pay respect to the numbers I had listed earlier, so I combined them. Thank you for the compliment! None of the major villains will be making an appearance as our characters will have to deal with one big bad.**

 **Guest: Thank you**

 **Crystal: Tony would definitely would re-create it...so totally bad idea. I just might have a prank get pulled on Tony since is still going to be a total ass throughout the rest of the story. Though it is one of his qualities that makes him...well...Tony, we can agree its one of his worst.**

 **Blast: No promises...so no spoilers.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Full credit of characters go to DC Comics/CW and Marvel/Stan Lee.**

* * *

 _Earth_ 38 _: DEO Headquarters_

 _13:05 hours_

* * *

 _Thump_

 _Ta-rump_

 _Thump_

 _Ta-rump_

 _Thump_

 _CRASH!_

Mon El winced as the tennis ball he had been carelessly flinging across the room struck the side wall, only to ricochet into an overhanging ceiling light. The glass rained down onto the ground, shattering with a tinkling noise. Agent Janet Madason who happened to entering the room, nearly dropped her tablet in surprise upon seeing the mess that now littered the ground. Fortunately, she was able to catch it before it could be damaged, as well as reclaim her composure. She then took the opportunity to glare at the Daxamite.

"Um...sorry?" he offered lamely as the tennis ball rolled his way and came to a stop when it bumped into his foot.

Agent Madason moved her hands in a complex array of motions, that looked like gibberish to him. Sighing slightly, he nudged some of the broken glass away with his feet, "I'll sweep it up...ok? Tell J'onn not to get his panties in a twist."

She pinched her lips together disapprovingly before speaking in a slightly flat tone, "Director Henshaw requires your presence."

"Is he going to ask me about Kara again?" he grumbled turning away from her, "Because...I already told him. I don't know where she is."

Janet didn't answer. He turned back and saw her looking confused. So he repeated what he had said.

"It is about something else," she answered in that odd tone of hers, "Winn is already there."

Having nothing else better to do, Mon El shrugged before picking up the tennis ball and sticking it into his pocket. He began following her through the winding corridors of the D.E.O. Agents and scientists alike turned to watch him and began to whisper. The Daxamite's ears began to burn, and he wondered if it was what the humans called 'embarrassment'. In order to keep it from showing on his face, he scrunched his neck down into his 'turtle-neck'—something that was not made from an actual turtle—and gave them all a wide grin which quickly faded upon arriving at their destination. Without a word, Janet calmly opened the door, ushered him in, and exited.

"She sure doesn't talk much does she?" Mon El noted as he watched the woman trot down the staircase, still holding onto her tablet.

"That is because she is deaf," J'onn's voice rumbled through the room as he marched up from his desk, "I suggest you be more polite to her next time."

"Oh..." Mon El felt like slapping himself. He hadn't meant to be rude to her, "Um...why did you call me up here?"

Winn who was perched on the edge of a table littered in old alien technology tapped his finger on his knee with a slow tapping pattern, "There is some good news...and some bad...news."

"What's the good news?" the Daxamite asked suspiciously.

"Erm...that Alex is not in the room and she probably should not hear this?" J'onn coughed and Winn offered hesitantly, "Also we know where Kara is...possibly."

Mon El almost broke every bone in his friend's body, when he drew him in for a hug. Winn squeaked in alarm and managed to free himself, gasping for air.

"The bad news is...Winn...won't tell me," J'onn spoke.

The Daxamite looked at his friend shocked. Winn weakly popped his dislocated shoulder back in its socket before whispering though the pain, "She swore me to secrecy. Sorry dude."

Seeing the alien's look, he quickly said, "Ok. Ok. She...erm...went to help some friends out."

"Which was days ago," The Martian Manhunter said sourly, "You're going to have to do better than that. If Superman hears about this...I think even he will drop his nice guy façade he treats you with."

"Um...that would be Barry and his team...err...Team Flash," Winn said sheepishly.

"What do you mean by that?" Mon El asked suspiciously.

Winn then went on about how Kara had been called to handle a giant robot invasion on Barry's earth. Mon El felt a bit disappointed. He rather liked the speedster since he knew how to punch and kick ass real well. Also since Barry's 'relationship' with Kara extended to being more like a big brother than a possible suitor. The Daxamite sighed slightly,

"Barry would have called had something gone wrong right?"

"That's the thing dude..." Winn said scratching the back of his head, "We've heard nothing. _Nada._ Zilch. Absolute silence from Earth 1...mostly since Kara brought her...trans-dimensional extrapolator there."

"Maybe she's being graciously thanked in Barry's universe?" Mon El offered.

"She would've have called had that been the case," J'onn replied, "Or any member of Mr. Allen's team for that matter. Ms. Snow promised me that she would call us if there was any trouble."

In the next second after he said that, a giant blue portal burst to life in the center of the room. Pulsating eerily, it spat out two people. With a startled yelp, Felicity hit the ground and nearly ripped her skirt as she flailed around, but managed to regain her footing. Rene had the worst of luck as he landed face first; his hockey mask going one way and his left shoe going to other. The wormhole seemed to gleam brighter as if it were laughing before vanishing with a loud throbbing sound.

"Damn it!" Rene howled sitting up and clutching his sore nose, "Next time I see Ramon I'm going to punch him. He can invent a blaster gun...but he couldn't have created the worm-hole maker thing so that it does nearly kill you when you jump out."

Felicity tittered uncertainly on her heels but began to assist her companion. Turning around and seeing both Hank, Will and Mon El staring at her, she squealed and dropped Rene who grunted, "Ow. Could have you have done that after helping me up Blondie?"

"Don't call me Blondie," Felicity muttered adjusting her glasses and quivering slightly, "When I'm in the perfect position to kick you in the unmentionables."

Rene just grunted in response and stiffly got to his feet. He plucked the hokey mask off the ground and allowed it to dangle carelessly from his hand. His shoe was another matter, as it had shot across the floor before coming lodged under a desk chair behind J'onn.

"I like her," Mon El decided.

"Who are you?" Hank demanded roughly.

"We're from Earth 1?" Felicity offered, "Um. Friend's of Barry Allen. Did he mention us?" Seeing their apparent 'blank' look she said, "You know? Fastest man alive? Can beat Kara in a race? Not to mean that she couldn't have beaten him. He got stuck here one time. Well I mean accidently. And that you guys didn't keep him a prisoner or anything." She stopped and looked around, "God...I have to say this room has the most amazing forms of technol—"

She sounded extremely caffeinated. Hank rubbed his forehead and put his hand up to stop her babbling, "Alright. I get it. You know Barry Allen...and Kara. Now.." he managed to make his voice sound gentle, "Who are you?"

"Felicity Smock," the blond woman squeaked staring at him as if he had suddenly sprouted green skin—which he hadn't...yet—, "I um...work with Oliver Queen. You know...the Green Arrow?"

"Now you're making me glad we left Curtis back in the lair," Rene muttered, "At least I only have to deal with one blabber mouth."

"And my rude companion here is Rene Ramirez," Felicity shot him a glare, "Otherwise known as Wild Dog."

"Ah...its because he turns into one?" Mon El asked.

Rene shot him a dirty look, "Where did you dig this idiot up? Its called a code name genius."

The Daxamite hadn't realized the space between the two of them had shortened until Winn shot his hand up in the air, "Um...before we start killing each other over super cool nicknames and stuff...why are you here?"

Felicity and Rene shared a look before the former turned back. She shuttered again, and Mon El got the impression she was nervous and upset about something.

"The...fight didn't go so well," she managed, "We believe that all three survived the explosion but..."

She trailed off because Mon El punched the nearest thing next to him, which happened to be the desk. The furniture split in half straight down the middle and objects resting on its surface crashed to the ground. Rene whistled admiringly though he still looked upset that his shoe had been nearly been squashed in the process, "Remind me not to bring you to a karate match."

"Where is she?" Mon El said managing to keep his voice reasonably level.

"Another earth. Which one? We have no clue. Which was why we came here to ask for assistance. And to get fresh coffee. Have any?" Felicity babbled turning bright red in the face to replace the formerly ghostly shade, "Not to say we drank it all on our earth. Or at least not yet. At the rate H.R. drinks his, its a wonder how all the local coffee shops haven't gone out of business yet."

"Feel free to use the equipment," Hank offered before adding, "If need be, Winn will accompany you to your earth to assist you."

Winn had a wide smile on his face it was amazing it hadn't cracked it, "I'll start packing right away sir! Even with the given circumstances this so freaking cool!"

* * *

 _Earth_ 191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _13:15 hours_

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Tony punctuated his point by smacking the flat of his hand down on the table, "You use these glasses to 'see' into the future and creates breaches from your earth to another earth?"

"More or less..." Cisco admitted before turning to the Clint and asking, "Hand me those wires will you man?"

Clint scrutinized the pile of gadgets in front of him, before grabbing a fistful of copper lined rubber hoping they were the right ones. He handed them over, and rubbed the grease on his fingers on his jeans with a grimace. The archer was not the type of guy who liked to lock himself in a room all day to play with tech. He preferred to be out in the training room shooting at stuffed dummies. But, Cisco _had_ promise to show him how to make cryorrows after finishing fixing his goggles. At any rate, it was better than sitting in his room trying to figure out exactly how many arrows he could stick on a poster of Tony he had tacked up on the wall for target practice. With Steve leading Barry on a tour of the tower...Clint was basically the only one in the room other than Stark and their new temporary tower mate. Oliver had only been able to stick around for about ten minutes, before he got bored and left. Clint envied him.

Cisco suddenly cursed and jerked his hand back when the partially attached wires sparked sending up a wisp of white smoke. Sticking his burned index finger in his mouth, he groped around for the roll of adhesive tape. After biting off about five inches of the medical tape, Ramon wrapped it around the red mark, leaving about two of his ten fingers without injury. One hand was already entirely bandaged after he yanked off one of his gauntlets from Tony's hand, only to have it nearly explode from overheating—and adding yet another thing he had to take care off after fixing the goggles.

"You should put some ointment on those," Tony noted as he closed one eye to stare through a gap in one of the gauntlets.

"Amazing that you care," Clint muttered lying back on an vacant table and covering his face with his baseball cap, "You didn't show that much concern when I got this cut in my cheek from Queen." The scab on his cheek itched and he resisted the urge to scratch it as well as at the gauze wrapped around his injured shoulder.

"I'm surprised you haven't fallen asleep yet Barton," the former playboy smirked setting Cisco's glove down, "Thought you hated this stuff."

"I'm only here to make sure you don't create another homicidal robot who wants to wipe out humanity," the archer flickered his hat up from his face to glare at Stark, "And also because the kid promised to show me how to make a cryorrow."

Tony stuck his tongue out at him, and picked up one of his armor gloves. Carefully he held the shattered pieces in his hand as if they were a bird egg, before putting it down at the work table next to where Ramon was working.

"You created a homicidal robot?" Cisco looked up from his goggles with surprise and scrunched his face up in annoyance, "Bro. Have you even bothered _watching_ the Terminator series?"

"Terminator?" Tony responded without interest as he picked up a spare screwdriver and fiddled around with the his armor glove, "The movie series with the ugly guy who says 'Hasta La Vista Baby?"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Cisco scowled right before stabbing himself with a Philips head, "Feck."

He moved a bowl full of ice water closer to him and stuck his injured palm in it, sighing with relief. Blood danced out of the small stab wound and looked like red silk in the clear liquid.

"Tony doesn't really learn from his mistakes," Clint muttered lying back on the table and placing his hat back over his face, "In fact...he makes new ones. And when he does...he makes his old friends pay the price."

There was a small clatter, as Tony slammed the nearly repaired glove down on the desk, "You really want to go there, don't you Clint?"

"No," the archer admitted before smirking under the cover of the baseball cap, "Mostly because I'll kick your sorry behind in combat without your suit."

"You're an ass you know that Barton?" Stark grumbled before flinging a wrench at him and missing, "And get the hell off my table."

Clint resisted the urge to swear at him, choosing to flip him off before resting his hand across his chest. Considering he didn't get attacked with another wrench, he figured Tony hadn't seen it. He heard an odd sound and propped up the corner of his hat to see where it was coming from. Cisco's face was scarlet as he bit his bottom lip to prevent the giggles from leaking out. The archer put his index finger to his lips in order to warn the man to be quiet before dropping the hat back on his face, smiling.

The door slammed open the next second. The archer yanked his hat off his face in alarm, posed and ready to fight; only relaxing when he found it was only Natasha standing in the center of the room. Cisco paled and he nearly dropped the screw he had his hands; no doubt from nerves. Apparently, he was a tad bit intimidated by her. Clint suppressed a smirk as he sat up.

"Hey Nat," he said cheerfully swinging his legs back and forth like a child.

"Clint," she nodded to him before turning to Tony and asking, "Why was the door locked?"

"It jammed," he responded nonchalantly. He picked up his armor glove and slipped it up on his arm, before pointing it at the ceiling, "Also, I locked it. Robin Hood left, and I didn't want his grouchy face in here. I already have to deal with Clint's miserable one."

"I'm right here you know," the archer growled as the armor glove powered up and glowed a vibrant blue color in the palm area, "I'd watch what you say especially with things light enough to throw next to me. You know _exactly_ how well I aim."

The repulser went off prematurely and fired off a blast that shot a hole into the ceiling making them all flinch and duck. Dust rained down and sprinkled everything with grey particles. Barry's head suddenly became visible in the basketball shape hole; the edges of his hair singed.

"You guys okay down there?" he called, "Something almost took my head off."

Steve's head joined his, and his expression on his face was a mixture of relief and annoyance. Clint suppressed a snicker as Tony quickly hid his tech behind his back.

"Everything is fine," he said in a guilty tone, "I was picking out where to put the new sunroof."

"Smooth," Cisco muttered as he tapped a small rubber mallet against the left lens which was flickering, "Real smooth." Tony shot him a dirty look which the man bluntly ignored. Cisco lifted his head, looked up at his friend and vaguely waved the hammer around, "Could use your help dude. Do you mind?"

Natasha looked up through the hole and narrowed her eyes at Barry was still looking down at them worriedly. Some unspoken message crossed between the two. The speedster met her gaze steadily, and she nodded approvingly, "I think things are under control for now."

"That's a relief," Barry said disappearing out of view, his voice still carried into the room though it was obvious he was exiting the one he was in, "I'll be right there Cisco."

* * *

 _Earth 1: CCPD_

 _13:49 hours_

* * *

 _Honestly, how does Allen accomplish lying so much?_ Julian thought bitterly as he examined the white tarp covering the deceased, _He makes it seem like a second nature to him_.

"Albert," Singh said sharply before demanding, "Do you know where Allen is?"

"He's got a really bad case of the stomach flu sir," Julian said grinning widely though the expression was forced, _really Julian, you had to use the old clique_ , "I'm afraid he won't be able to come in for a while."

His boss grunted, "Joe said the same thing. Hope it is not as bad as the nine month coma he was in."

 _Nine month coma?_ Julian managed not let the curiosity show on his face, "I'm sure he'll recover soon sir."

"He'd better," Singh grumbled scratching his three day old beard, "I'm going to need both my Golden boys for these bizarre murders."

He stalked off. Julian punctuated his relief by letting out all the air in his lungs and breathing it back in. Slowly he fiddled with the vial in his hand, as if unsure what to do with it. His index finger was posed against the stopper when a shadow fell over him. Glancing up, he was surprised to seen Iris standing behind the police tape. she had bags under her eyes as if she was not sleeping well, but she managed to give him a sickly smile.

"Hey Julian," she said softly pulling a notebook and pencil out of her shoulder bag, "Can I get some quotes?" Her eyes conveyed another message however, _any news_?

Julian sighed, not unkindly before quickly packing up his suitcase and disposing of his latex gloves. Silently, he ducked under the yellow tape and mentioned for her to follow him. Iris followed him until he had lead her across the street to the public park. Politely, he indicated the wooden bench and she sat down wearily. The old wood creaked as she shifted her weight and looked up at him hopefully.

"No news yet I'm afraid," he said as if they had never broken off a discussion that had not existed previously, "But...there is some hope."

"How so?" Iris asked visibly perking up.

"Some lady by the name of Ms. Smoak called," Julian shrugged, "After babbling on for about thirty seconds, I managed to get some info out of her. Apparently, she and...Catlin came up with a theory that they might have been transported to another earth."

Iris shook her head in amazement and she was speechless. So he continued staring down at his hands, "The energy fluctuation was similar to the energy Ramon gives off when he opens breeches. This one, however was on a much bigger scale."

"So what you are saying is..." she said hesitantly, "Is the explosion didn't kill them."

"Highly likely," Julian nodded, "But...any time we try contacting them has ended in failure. Where ever they are...I just hope they are alright."

* * *

 _Earth_ 191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _14:00 hours_

* * *

Reading was admittedly not one of Natasha's favorite past times.

However, it was boring when completing a hundred or so pull ups using her legs and a bar attached in the middle of a door. So to pass the time, she decided to read one of Cap's old books he left lying around.

 _All Quiet on the Western Front_

Given much of it was dry and in the first person , it was amazing she had read to the fifth chapter. Turing the page, she was startled by a flicker of movement by the front door. Before the intruder could even blink, she had back flipped onto the ground and drove a perfect right hook right towards their face. Fortunately, Barry reacted quickly and she hit nothing but the space he had occupied a moment earlier.

"Sorry..." he said sheepishly when she turned to glare at him, "I guess I should've knocked."

Natasha huffed slightly and picked up the book which had been dropped. The cover had been bent back and she frowned, hating to have to explain to Steve that she had ruined it.

"You...um...wanted to speak to me?" his tone sounded very hauntingly as if he were tentative on how to approach her.

"Yes," Natasha set the book down on her bed and smoothed out paper-back, "I'm surprised you know how to lip read."

"Given the fact I can easily translate fast moving text scrolling across a computer screen, it was no big deal," the speedster shrugged, slightly. He seemed to have relaxed as soon as she had calmed down. But his mannerism was still wary, yet warm and not hostile.

"Why did you really save Clint?" Natasha's voice was sharp.

There was no answer from the speedster. He calmly picked the book up off the table and examined its cover. Gently, he ran his finger along the damaged spine and tapped his finger on it to flatten it, only to have it pop back up again. His brow furrowed as if it presented a puzzle to him he could not solve.

"Are you purposely dodging the questions or do you not have an answer?"

Barry slowly put the book down and stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was amazing how young he looked, but yet his mannerism was that of a mature young adult who had seen things people his age usually didn't see. But, there was also a deep sadness to him even though he had practice covering it up.

"You're fond of him aren't you?" he asked softly.

Natasha glowered at him, "He's my teammate."

"I'm not judging," the speedster held his hand up in a placating gesture, "Just curious. He seemed to hold a high regard for you."

"Quit avoiding the question," Nat couldn't help but smile though. Clint could be an ass, but he was still a good man, someone she would trust with anything. Obviously, the archer hadn't told Barry any of her darkest secrets, so she wouldn't have to punch him the next time she saw him.

"No one deserves to die that way...or anyone for that matter," Barry sighed and sat down on the edge of the table. He crossed one his lanky legs over the other and clamped his hands down on the edge of the furniture to stay his balance, "I saved him...because it was the right thing to do."

He quietly played with the buttons attached to his jacket and cast a glance up at Natasha who was standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Even if he were a criminal you'd save him?" her voice was much gentler than she intended it to be this time.

"Why not?" Barry shrugged, "I didn't know him...except for when he almost shot me in the face. But..." he fell silent for a moment as he contemplated what to say. When he spoke again, his voice was leveled and strong, "I saved him...because...that is what you have to do. I'm not in it for the glory or the power...I just do it because its right. I was given these powers, and I have to use them for others. To help them. I'm fast...but sometimes there are times where I'm not fast enough."

"That's not good enough."

The speedster didn't answer and only looked at her wearily for a moment until she asked him, "You are motivated by something. Something formed you into the man you are today. And don't give me crap...the truth."

Very quietly Barry answered, "Wanda is not to only one to lose someone close her. That's...what guides me.

He looked down at the ground and placed his arms in his pockets before sliding off the edge of the table. Quietly he straightened up to his full height and walked out of the room, leaving her to contemplate what he had said. Natasha let him go. She was too much in shock by the man's answer. The speedster obviously knew his full range of his capabilities, and yet he didn't seem to showboat them. He was modest and kind, and seemed to be driven on by some unknown tragedy in his past.

In other words, he was the direct opposite of Tony Stark. Natasha pulled her long curly red hair out of its bun, allowing it to cascade down her shoulders. She sighed, quietly and walked out of the room.

She needed to punch something.

* * *

 **Nat seriously needed a section. Hope you guys all enjoyed!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I know the last chapter was rather short. My apologies...but I wanted to spread out the story a bit more. The first part will be Clint POV since...well...you'll have to read it. Hope you guys don't mind!**

 **Random Lady** — **Clint is an ass yes, but Tony is an even bigger one. To be fair, Clint does have a point, but then again he _has_ killed people before. Thank you for the support!**

 **Crystal** — **He might eventually make an appearance. He's such a jerk, but he does make an excellent character.**

 **FSCD** — **Hola from the U.S! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot. Characters belong to their respectable creators.**

* * *

 _Earth_ 191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _14:30 hours_

* * *

The entire training room seemed to shake, as Oliver executed a palm strike to his opponent's chest sending them sprawling back.

Tony hit the gymnastic mat and rolled head over heels; landing on his back with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs:a sound that Clint could clearly hear from the bleachers he was perched on. The archer smirked and gestured with his water bottle in a mock form of 'cheers' ,"How's your foot taste Stark?"

In response, the inventor glanced up at him, glared, before rolling over and allowing his face to smack down on the matt in annoyance. He muttered something that was muffled by the blue plastic, before rolling on his side.

Oliver calmly stood off to the side, both of his arms crossed. He had already removed his top since Tony had stubbornly refused to turn on the air-conditioning, showing off his scars and burns on his body. Clint wondered 1) how he had gotten them, 2) how one person could survive so much pain, and 3) why the heck hadn't they healed correctly. Scars in his opinion, were gross, which was why he tried to avoided getting injuries on his missions (also so Laura wouldn't kill him).

"Why are you doing this?" Tony whined, "This is stupid."

"You need to learn how to fight without the suit," Oliver responded nonchalantly as he pulled on a fresh T-shirt, "And if I recall...you said you could quote 'beat Robin Hood in hand-to-hand combat without his arrows'."

Clint had to pinch his arm in order to keep himself from snickering. He didn't want to get beaned in the head by one of Stark's disgusting sneakers, or the giant water jug. Though Tony had yet to learn how to aim _without_ his suit, the archer didn't want to have to change again if he succeeded. Already the genius had set off the fire sprinklers in the tower, twice since Barry began to help. No doubt it was intentional to get rid of the speedster, who remained stoic against the downpour. Clint had to admire his stubbornness which rivaled even Natasha's.

"Did your mother ever teach you that it is rude to eavesdrop?" Tony snapped getting to his feet. The surrounding walls swayed and turned drunkenly forcing him to sit back down with a groan. _Everything_ ached. His arms, his sides, his ribs, his feet. Mostly his left arm, the one he landed on when he got knocked on his rear end.

"I think you broke something," he complained with a wince, "Specifically my arm."

"If it were broken you wouldn't be able to move it and it would be swelling," Oliver responded a-matter-of-factly wiping his brow before having something close to a smirk on his lips, "Now do you want to call Uncle or do you want to continue?"

It sounded as if he spoke from experience.

Tony flushed a bright red and he regained his footing without a single word. He paused for a moment and charged, headlong towards Queen who by now turned his back on him. A second later, and Tony was on the ground again, clutching an eye that would be black in a few hours; it was incredible considering the injury was a result of a well executed round-house kick. Clint clapped slowly and smirked, "Congratulations Tony. You have now become Shield Agent Level 0. Please escort your sorry behind to the showers and come back within a few hours. Perhaps then Mr. Queen might go easier on your ass."

"Shut up Barton."

Oliver had a ghost of a smile on his face as he beckoned for Tony to come at him. Stark did after a moment's hesitation. Clint watched with some amusement as Tony went down again and again without even laying a finger on his opponent.

Obviously whoever had taught Queen, had done a swell job doing it. His skills easily rivaled Clint's and Natasha's combined...and the fact that he was completely human and was given respect by his other super-powered compatriots marveled the sharp-eyed archer (though he promised himself to never admit it out loud).

The door slammed suddenly and there came the muffled sounds of well worn sneakers padding against the metal seats. Clint looked up in time to see Barry plunk himself down next to him. The young speedster's face had a ring of smoke imprinted on it, and his wind tussled hair was in an even more wild do.

"What happened to you?" the archer asked with some amusement.

"Cisco started muttering rapidly in Spanish," Barry sighed running his thin fingers through his hair in an effort to flatten it; only to have it stick back up with soot staining the tips, "And when he does that, I know better than to bother him. So I left."

"And came to watched the two forty special?"

Allen shook his head, "No. Came to make sure Oliver doesn't kill him—"

He was cut off by a wild yell from Tony who had been body slammed into the matt, "Nice try Tony, but not close enough. You might have keep more of your balance on your back foot next time."

"You know, you should've told me that before going Bruce Lee," Stark choked out from the arm compressing his windpipe. Oliver released him and motioned for him to come at him again.

"—much..." Barry finished, knitting his fingers around the edge of the bleacher seat. He winced sympathetically as Tony barely avoided a direct punch to the face—which Clint would've loved to see—only to get spun around and onto his back again. "Oliver offered to train me once," the speedster mused, "Ended up with two arrows in my back." There was a muffled thump as Tony tried swinging his arm only to fall on his butt in exhaustion.

"You weren't paying attention to your surroundings," Oliver countered as he walked to the base of the stairs and glaring up at them, "You learned didn't you?"

Tony staggered up to the bleachers and collapsed against one of them, panting heavily. He grabbed his spare water bottle and started chugging it down like he did with liquor. Or at least what Pepper Pots had told Clint.

"That is the only injury I've gotten that has had a lasting impression," the speedster grumbled; his usual smile shrank, "They ache any time it rains."

The green archer merely grunted and wandered over to the water jug to refill it. Tony didn't budge—apparently hoping by playing dead he wouldn't have to continue training. Clint was sorely tempted to nudge him in order wake him up, but decided it would not be worth the effort. Barry tapped his foot anxiously against the metal seat, moving his foot so fast that it produced a faint humming noise that was barley audible. Hawkeye could not see why the speedster still remained, at least until someone entered the facility.

Natasha was that someone. Calmly she stepped forward and crossed her arms as she looked at Oliver. Queen had his head cocked to the side but his face still was as expressionless as stone as usual.

"Captain," she said respectfully as she regarded the Bratva tattoo on his chest, "Or are you really one?"

"I am," the archer confirmed without flinching.

"Very well," she replied, "Allow me to test that."

Without warning she struck.

* * *

 _Earth_ 1 _: Central City PD Headquarters_

 _14:30 hours_

* * *

Dinah Drake never thought she'd return to Central City. But given the fact that both Star City's and Central City's vigilantes had somehow vanished completely off the face of the earth, gave her an excuse to put all of her past to the side and suck it up.

She recalled what Felicity had told her, and hated that she hadn't been there to at least help Oliver. Quite frankly, she didn't know what to make of the man in the red suit and fast legs who protected her previous precinct, but upon realizing that the man was a close friend and ally of her team it made her resolve to find out what had happened to him.

As for the flying alien lady...she didn't know how to react to the fact there was alien life. Given the fact the Central City had been attacked by alien invaders didn't help the shock factor. This city was defiantly going to have to change its logo to "Home of the Strange".

Impatiently, she tapped her foot rapidly on the tile floor as she examined the ageless mural hanging on the wall displaying several famous Greek gods: Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Hermes etc.. Behind her, she was well aware of former colleagues and partners stopping and staring at her. One of the CSI members abruptly slammed into the wall scattering papers everywhere. A quick glance at his face confirmed it wasn't Allen. Dinah lost count of how many times he'd lost papers, spilled coffee all over himself and others, and managed to trip on the third step every single time he ran up or down the stairwell. But what made up for it was his tight, efficient work...even though he was notorious for being tardy to most crime scenes.

She had to admit that she rather missed seeing his screw ups.

"Drake?"

Dinah turned and calmly looked into the face of her former boss; Captain David Singh. His face had been leached of color, but he managed to give her a relived smile.

"Good to see you again. Care to join me in my office?"

She nodded and weaved her way through the overcrowded tables that were overflowing with papers. There were several landlines ringing off the hooks, and officers were scrambling to answer them all. Most of the calls were about fires, robberies, the like. One was about a new potential Metahuman levitating and flinging rocks at responding officers.

"You're busy today," Dinah responded dryly as they entered the office.

Singh slammed the door shut, dimming the outside pandemonium for a temporary relief. With a loud sigh, he plopped down at his desk and slid a large stack of papers off the side before clamping his fingers together.

"Please take a seat."

Dinah eyed the two visitor chairs and noticed that one had a potted plant resting on top of it and the other a glass fishbowl with millions of paperclips. Both were resting on the top of the Empire State Building of case papers, "I rather stand."

"Very well," Singh stood up and began to pace back and forth, "What brings you here?"

He walked over to a water dispenser and began to fill two cups with water.

"Business," Dinah responded, nodding to him when he handed her a full cup. She hadn't realized how dehydrated she felt—considering she had screamed a boat-load of curses that would have made a sailor proud, after the rude taxi cab driver...she was not too surprised.

"I see you haven't changed with the one word answers," he responded with a slight smile, "I'm surprised that the Green Arrow found you. Thought it was a joker on the other end of the line...until the Flash convinced me otherwise."

Dinah decided not to come up with a response to that one, "I'm here actually to find out information about The Flash."

"As you can tell by the number of calls going on out there," Singh grumbled gesturing outside, "I'm up to my ears with calls about him. The press are vultures and the public though happy with 'Kid Flash' are wondering where the original speedster has gone off to. Then there was that huge earthquake that did some damage on the city. On top of that, my top CSI is out with the stomach flu."

"Allen?" Dinah took a cautious sip from the cup.

"Unfortunately," Singh sighed heavily as he sat at the edge of the table, "Kid is tardy sixty percent of the time, sick thirty percent of the time, on time five percent of the time, and asleep the other five percent."

He tapped his finger on the desk as to emphasize his annoyance. Dinah slowly set her cup down and crossed her arms, "Anything you will be willing to share about the speedster?"

"Not really," the captain admitted reluctantly, "I just know he's been missing for over a week. There's been rumors about some explosion in Star City that took him and the Robin Hood out."

He stood up and started pacing once again. Dinah watched him before slowly pulling out a small device Felicity had handed her. Knowing she'd had to move quick, she pretended to bend down in order to place the tiny robot underneath Singh's laptop. The machine started to scroll through the files and copying every one that mentioned the Scarlet Speedster since the day of his disappearance.

"Is there anything else?" Singh asked testily as he stopped pacing, "As you can see, I'm busy."

The robot admitted a tiny beeping noise that only Dinah could hear because of the special comn link located in her ears. She fidgeted slightly and waited for the captain to turn his back to her before answering.

"No."

Dinah quickly unclipped the tiny bug and artfully slipped it into her pocket, "It was good to see you again...sir."

* * *

 _Earth_ 191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _15:03 hours_

* * *

Breaking up fights was one the things Steve tried to interfere with. Starting a fight was one thing he resolved never to do again. About hearing about a 'fight' between Oliver and Natasha...well...unnerved him even more than when he saw the flying aircraft carrier S.H.E.I.D used for the first time.

He had initially been looking for Clint when he found out.

"Clint," Cap entered the kitchen and greeted his friend who was leaning against the sink with his bow slung across his shoulder, "Have you seen...um...our guests? I haven't—" Steve trailed off upon noticing Barry standing next to the table they had talked at earlier, his face pale as if he hadn't gone out into the sun for a while. Noticing the super solider, he inclined his head politely but remained silent; his fingers fiddling with a wooden pencil he had acquired at some point.

Hawkeye shrugged, "I don't know where the flying woman went." He pointed behind him,"Barry was kicked out of the workroom by Cisco so he's been hanging out with me. And Queen and Natasha sparred."

"They did what?"

"Sparred," Clint shrugged again as if he couldn't understand Steve's worry, "Don't fret Cap. They didn't kill each other. It was tie in case you were wondering."

"Which we promised never to speak off," Barry muttered shuffling slightly, causing the pencil to fly across the room. Steve blinked and found the writing utensil had somehow come to rest neatly in Barry's hand who appeared to have not budged from his spot. Steve hadn't even seen him move which was most unnerving.

"You afraid of Queen?" Clint smirked as he turned to look at the speedster, " _Wow_. Can't believe that would be the thing that would scare you. You run up a thirty story building to save my ass without even breaking a sweat, and you're scared of a guy who wouldn't be able to see you coming if you chose to deck him?"

"Technically it was fifty-two stories," Barry corrected sticking the pencil in his jacket pocket, "And no, I'm not scared of Oliver. I just hope he doesn't think I said a word about our last two duel."

"You guys dueled?" Clint asked.

"Long story. Short version I got 'whammied' and almost killed him during the first one."

"What the hell does whammied mean?"

"My team's term for mind control."

Steve saw Clint's face tighten slightly as his unpleasant experience with being mind controlled flickered into his memory. The archer didn't respond, but Cap turned to the speedster who cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"Did you hurt anyone?" the captain asked.

Barry's face scrunched up as he tried to recall. When he did he sounded embarrassed, "Um...just a cop. Kind of...pushed him around."

Clint gave him a smirking grin, "I can tell there is more behind that story. What were you so ticked about?"

"He was um...dating someone I liked andsomeoneIdidn'thavethecouragetotellIlikedheruntilrecently."

Steve frowned unable to get the last half, "That's not a good reason to punch a man son."

The speedster's ears turned poppy red, "Yeah. I acted like a moron."

"So who was the girl you were fighting over?" Clint elbowed his ribs playfully, "Not your ex-girlfriend I hope."

"Not exactly," Barry knitted his fingers together, "She's kind of sort...myfiancénow..um...adoptive sister."

It was weird how he strung certain phrases together at a rapid speed before saying something else in its place. Clint simply shrugged and smacked him on the back hard enough to have the air whoosh out of his lungs, "Whatever pal. Sooner or later, I'm going to find out who this lady is. I might not tell her about how I almost killed you."

"I'd be more worried what she'd do to you," the speedster winced, "She took boxing classes since eight, and beat up a school bully so bad that he was sent to the nurse's office with a broken nose when she was fourteen."

"So she was the badass/anti-bully patrol of the school?" Clint said teasingly, "What about you? The star track runner?"

"Unfortunately no. Let's just say I was the nerd and the butt of jokes," Barry sighed running his fingers through his hair, "The kid who always dropped all his books always got beat up standing up for others and was too scrawny...failed _miserably_ at football tryouts—." He trailed off.

Steve was empathetic with him. He remembered himself a young and skinny eight grader growing up on the streets of Brooklyn. Bucky was his about his only friend, and was usually the one who beat up the bullies who targeted him. A small smile crawled across his face as he remembered how Ryan Hester's face looked when he discovered his nose had been broken.

"And then you somehow got your powers and BOOM!" Clint snapped his fingers, startling Cap back into the present, "You suddenly give Ulsan Bolt a run for his money. Have you considered racing in the Indy 500...I mean _without_ a car?"

"Cisco tried signing me up for that after I learned how to run up a building," Barry smiled slightly, "It didn't go over well with Catlin...or NASCAR officials."

He shuffled slightly and fiddled with a box resting on the table. It was worn out and falling apart, but Steve was able to make out the white capital letters printed on the top: CHESS. Cap hoping to entice coax out more about the young man's past asked "You play?"

The speedster shrugged in that odd way that meant both yes and no at the same time. Awkwardly he sat down in a chair and began to slowly assemble the pieces. Clint sat across from him and motioned for Steve to join them, "We're were about to play until you showed up. It was either this, or target practice. Barry wasn't too happy to volunteer for that."

Steve only nodded as he watched the speedster silently placed the pawns in a straight line on the board; lining them up perfectly and evenly with amazing patience _and_ normal human speed. Despite its worn out container, the pieces were in mint condition. Once the board was assembled he pushed it into the middle without a word, but his eyes flickered across the board as he waited.

"You go first Cap," Clint grinned, "I wonder if you can beat this one Barry."

The other man didn't answer, but instead stared intently at the board; index finger lightly resting on the top of a white pawn He glanced up at the super solider for a split second before looking back down. Relenting, Steve picked up one of his black pawn pieces and slid it forward two spaces. Barry fiddled with his pawn piece, before using one of his knights to hop over the top. He sat backed and watched as his opponent studied the board.

"I don't play much," Barry admitted while Cap moved the same pawn piece he moved previously forward by one, "I really haven't had a chance to. Its been busy...where I work I mean."

He moved his knight again, placing it back to its original location. The metal horsehead gleamed in the overhead lighting casting an oblique shadow on the board. Steve made his move, and Barry soon followed. They played silently for a time, equally matched in their knowledge of the game. It was quiet enough to hear the air conditioning jump start and the sound of a passenger plane fly over head.

"So what do you do?" Clint was perched on the kitchen counter, holding his hunting knife in hand as he peeled away the skin of an apple he had picked up, "You have a job? So you're not one-hundred percent guardian angel who zips around his city in a red onesie?"

"Yeah, I already told you that. Nobody except a choice few know about my identity...as the Flash. I rather keep it that way for security reasons," Barry's eyes narrowed slightly when Cap used his pawn to take out one of his rooks, "When I'm not busy 'speeding around' I work with the police."

"Really doesn't narrow it down pal," the archer replied pulling off the spring-like apple skin and twirled it around his index finger, "There are different police positions: detective, captain, the good cops, the bad cops, the jerk cops, the nice cops, donut eating cops, non-donut eating cops etc. etc. etc. Not saying that I'm discriminatory against police or anything. So what do you do?"

The speedster clenched his jaw and remained silent as he moved a bishop forward taking out one of Steve's knights. Cap sighed in response and turned to look at Clint. He silently shook his head. The archer's brow furrowed but he nodded and dropped his legs down so that they dangled at the edge of the counter. Barry still remained silent, his finger constantly pushing around one of Cap's captured pieces. It was the pawn.

"You're not thinking about chess are you?" Steve realized.

"No," Barry's response was short, "I'm thinking about the last time I played this game. The man who taught me...turned out to be...someone who wanted to kill me. But he needed me for something before he did. In his eyes I was just the pawn he could move, but also the knight and king in value. What if whoever brought us here is...is just playing their own version of chess?"

"What makes you say that?"

There was only a faint rolling noise as Barry rolled the pawn piece across the table with his palm. The figurine rolled in a semi-circle before clinking to the tile floor with a tinkle. He made no effort to catch it, instead staring intently at the board. Quietly, he pushed his Queen forward, "Check-mate."

Clint smirked though the expression was forced, "So you're good at chess _and_ eating three pizzas in one sitting. What aren't you good at?"

It was so quiet that Steve's keen hearing was able to pick up the sound of the kitchen clock ticking.

"Not knowing when to trust someone," Barry responded, "And not knowing how to change the future."

"You trust us right?" Clint asked even though his face showed how curious he was about the speedster's statement.

Barry stared at the board. He didn't appear to move, but it suddenly was reset back to its original layout all pieces accounted for. "Perhaps. This is only between the three of us so I hope it doesn't get out. I trust you more than the others on your team. I sense that feeling extends to me as well?"

"I trust you Barry," Steve nodded, "You have a good heart. I saw what you did in the city with the people yesterday. You risked your life then...and you risked your life saving Clint."

"Saving strangers is much easier than saving people you love..." the speedster muttered as if to himself. His facial expression made it seem like he was somewhere else.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Barry gave him a small smile that seemed strained. He rapped his knuckles on the table top, "Good game...Steve."

"Its okay if you call me Cap," the super-solider acknowledged that the speedster was about to before hesitating. Steve initially felt a bout of nostalgia when referred to his previous title. Not wishing to dwell into what happened months ago, he decided to allow Barry to say it, "Might as well since you are apart of the team temporarily."

"Thanks," the speedster replied quietly, "I should go check on Cisco. Hopefully he and Tony haven't blown up the lab yet."

There was a faint scrapping noise as he pushed the chair back and slowly wandered to the door before disappearing from their view.

"Well at least you got him to say more than three sentences to you," Clint replied cheerfully before frowning upon noticing Steve's expression, "What?"

"Something is bothering him," Cap answered thoughtfully, "I don't know what, but...I'm not going to prob. Make sure Tony doesn't hear that...he'll bother Barry non-stop until he gets answers."

"You got it," Clint nodded before hopping off the edge of the table, "I'm going to take a nap. Make sure to wake me up if Tony _does_ blow something up okay?"

* * *

 _Earth_ 1: _Star City_

 _16:18 hours_

* * *

"I hate this hell hole."

Richard lazily regarded his companion through one greasy eyeball. The other was glass and white, and stared at nothing in particular. A jagged scar scratched down it evidence his blindness had been a result of an apparent knife fight that went wrong. Or perhaps something else.

"You ever stop complaining Henry?" he drawled crossing his right over the other. He glanced down the alleyway, squinting against the glare of the sun reflecting off the window of one of the skyscrapers in the distance. Scrawled on the walls were bright red profanities and black inked words that darkened the bricks like a shadow.

"No," the other man admitted as he shifted slightly on his perch on an old fishing crate, "'M-just bored."

"You're always bored."

"And you know what I like to do when I'm bored," Henry grinned darkly as he pulled a pistol out from his jean pocket and handed it to the other "Rob."

Richard eyed the weapon but didn't take it, "You already got two-hundred from the last job. Give it a break will ya?"

"Green Arrow seems to have disappeared," Henry replied gleefully, tucking the gun back into his belt, "And his Merry Men have been scattered. No one is protecting this city as much as they used to, thus we have free reign."

There came a faint scrapping noise at the entrance to the alley way. Richard didn't budge from his seat on the top of stacked cardboard boxes. Instead he sat back and watched as Henry jumped to his feet in order to creep to the edge of the alley. Slowly, he began to pull the gun from his belt.

"Its probably an alley cat," Richard grunted, "You shoot it...you're going to have bad luck."

"Bah, bad luck. I don't believe in that superstitious shit," Henry snapped though he did look a bit worried.

The noise continued. A man dressed in a long coat and wearing a hat that overshadowed his face calmly walked down the alleyway towards the thugs. He did not appear to be alarmed, even when Henry cocked the safety back on the handgun.

"Your wallet please good sir," he grinned widely, "Its the toll you have to pay. Pay, you pass and you live."

The stranger silently ignored him and continued walking. Annoyed, Henry stepped into his path halting the man.

"Didn't you hear me old man? Wallet...now."

"Let him go Henry," Richard muttered, "We're done for today."

Henry proceeded to prod the strange in the gut with his gun. With a flurry of motion, the stranger grabbed swatted gun out of Henry's hand, twisted it to the side and slammed the side of his arm down at an angle. There was a dry cracking sound, and Henry snapped back screaming in pain. He cradled his broken wrist in his other hand swearing. Richard was preparing to come to his aid when the stranger calmly pointed the gun in his direction.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

The stranger's voice held a strange foreign accent; it almost seemed it he were spitting the words out through his nose rather than his mouth. Or if they were coming through his mouth, like he was coughing up something from his lungs.

"Look man...we don't want any trouble," Richard shakily put his hands up. A vein by the scar on his face pulsed. Henry shivering and spitting through his teeth in pain only managed to put his hands up so that they came inline with his chest.

"Its a pity that you hooligans had to attack me," the stranger sighed as he lovingly caressed the barrel of the gun with a gloved hand, "Because I might have considered keeping you alive...for what is to come."

"What the hell man?" Henry complained, "Are you going to seriously start sprouting all the doomsday crap and all that sh—"

There were sudden gunshots, as the hatted stranger fired two bullets rapidly into both muggers. Henry went down in a pool of blood, but Richard tumbled down the pile of trash and limped down the alleyway, clutching at his side were which blood pooled. Wheezing, he dragged his leg behind him as he tried to escape from the stranger who continued to follow him. Another gunshot, and Richard went down. Coughing, he turned onto his back and stared in shock at the stranger who stared down at him.

"Who..." Richard coughed spitting up plasma, "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," the stranger remarked removing a small box from his pocket. Opening it revealed an inch long sliver of a bright blue stone that glowed eerily. The light enveloped the mugger and he screamed in pain. When the light vanished, Richard had disappeared.

Sighing slightly, the stranger closed the box and slipped it back into his pocket. Hearing police sirens in the distance, he growled animal-like before pacing away deeper into the alley. He pushed his sleeve up slightly to itch at his skin, revealing it to be a hideous shade of red as if it had been badly sun burned.

"Sooner or later," he wheezed slightly, "I'll figure out how to get back. And this time...I'll be better prepared."

He coughed nasally before ducking into a doorway of a nightclub, minutes before the police arrived on scene. Immediately spotting the body, they cornered off the location and called in their crime team. Unnoticed to them, a figure wrapped in rags watched silently from the rooftops. By the time an officer had crossed in front of him, thus blocking any sightseers from seeing him, he had disappeared.

* * *

 **No big reveal! Sorry guys, but you might be able to figure out who it is. ;D Enjoy!**


	18. Chapter 18

**So the big bad was revealed; somewhat. At least I didn't drag it out as much as the Savitar Secret I.D.**

 **Btw...I saw Spiderman: Homecoming and realized (spoiler alert) that the Avengers Tower was sold and no longer exists. However, its too far into the story to change that...so please pretend that the Tower was never sold.**

 **I have a very important question to ask you guys, so please read to the end of the chapter so you can see it.**

 **Shoutouts**

 **Guest** — **I'm trying not to be a cop out. I wanted to leave the duel as a draw so fans for either Natasha or Oliver could choose who they wanted to win, rather than have a bunch of reviews that were annoyed that I chose one over the other.**

 **Guest (2)** — **Sorry in advance if you are the same person as above. However, I would like to ask you to stop constantly asking me to update. Each chapter takes a while to write as I am trying to please fans on each side and stick to the story line. Again, I am going to ask you nicely to stop**

 **Crystal** — **Tony really had it coming. Though that might be the last time I bash him since future chapters are going to become more serious.**

 **Random Lady** — **If you love Barry being so loveable then you're going to enjoy this chapter. XD The bubble wrap thing is good. In my case, I'd probably ask him for a hug if I was having a crappy day. Personally, I try to stay away from shipping since I think it is a bit over rated and plus... _let the freaking character love who they love without having a bunch of fan girls squealing or whining about it_! Sorry for the rant, but anyways I don't mind Barry x Iris, I just try to not focus on their relationship in my stories. Thank you for the review! :)**

* * *

191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _15:10 hours_

* * *

It took a while for Sam to get up the strength to resolve he wouldn't punch Tony when he saw him. When he finally did, he was standing in front of the previous Avenger tower glancing up at it. Either it was out of guilt or nostalgia that Stark had decided to keep the giant A hanging off the side. Sam decided to go with nostalgia...Tony hardly had any guilt for anything.

 _What the hell happened here_? Falcon thought looking around at the surrounding buildings, _Did World War III start and Cap didn't bother calling me in on the action?_

A Hilton hotel building had a big chunk taken out of the side of it as if it had been eaten by Godzilla. There were several cars sticking through the support pillars of office buildings—including one absurdly through the wall of a Farmer's Insurance building; the irony was too good to miss, so he snapped a quick photo of it. He was pretty sure the insurance company hadn't been prepared for another giant fight in the city.

The city looked like it had gone through another invasion of aliens, though it was in much better shape now than then.

"Whoa," he whistled, risking recognition when he slid his Ray Bands down the bridge of his nose to look around, "And I thought the damage after the Hulk incident in Africa was insane. Let's hope Tony didn't piss off another super-powered being."

Sam pushed his glasses back up and typed in his code for access to the building. An annoying blinking red light popped up along with a message from Friday, " _Code incorrect_." The keypad made a bleep noise as if it were blowing a raspberry at him before sliding into a hidden panel in the wall; allowing only the small fingerprint recognition button visible. Falcon made a noise of irritation before pressing his thumb against it.

A bright blue light panned back and forth before beeping cheerfully and allowing the keypad to pop back out. Sam rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the keypad, trying to remember what Tony's ridiculous password would be: obviously he had updated it from Clint's prank password after Tony made the mistake of pulling the classic, 'whip cream in the sleeping man's hand' prank. Basically the clean version was _Tony Stark is an ass* &%#_.

"Well Tony," Sam muttered, "You had to update it with something that has your name in it."

He thought for a moment before typing in _Jarvis Is My Driver_. There was a three bell chime before the door swung open allowing him access to the building.

"Guess I owe you one Rodey," he smiled slightly recalling that War Machine had been drunk on a previous occasion and blathered it out—fortunately without Tony being present.

He rode the elevator express way up and ended hanging onto the railing for dear life most of the way. If he didn't he would've been plastered against the ceiling.

Having way too much time on his hands, Tony obviously cooked up three different speeds for the elevator to give his visitors a thrill: normal, fast, and express train fast. Unfortunately, Sam got speed number 3. He knew fast— he liked pulling stunts with his flight suit—but when he was on something very fast, dangerous, and very, _very_ unsecured he hated it. Especially after hearing what Cap did to the elevator at S.H.E.I.L.D headquarters. Granted, he was trying to escape from H.Y.D.R.A agents, but that still didn't help Sam soften his dislike towards this particular machine.

With a ding and a sudden jolt, the elevator screeched to a halt on the suite floor. Falcon breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his brow as the door opened, _Damn you Tony._ Shakily, he staggered out, bruises blossoming everywhere on his body which was slammed around.

It was rather quiet in the tower. But nothing out of the ordinary. After having a certain individual who could make a mess when provoked with loud noise (pertaining to loud explosions), Tony had installed sound proof glass and walls. He could have a nuclear bomb go off and nobody in the tower (or the city for that matter) would be able to hear it.

Sam winced as he leaned against a sofa for support as the feeling of his bladder and stomach sliding back into place gave him some discomfort. A faint noise on the second floor made him look up. There was a woman standing there, her blond hair was pulled into a neat pony tail and a pair of glasses lay crookedly upon her nose. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise when she noticed him staring at her.

"Who are you?" Sam grimaced slightly as bile threatened to come out of his stomach, "I didn't know Tony hired a secretary."

"Secretary?" the woman's face furrowed as she leaned against the glass railing of the second floor and looked down at him, "If Tony plans to ask, he's going to regret it. I already have a job and it doesn't involve working with a guy who keeps hitting on me."

Falcon smiled slightly, liking her attitude whoever she was, "Okay. So you're not his secretary. Are you his cousin or something?"

"MAKE WAY!"

The blond woman turned as a young Latino man practically flew around the corner, carrying a trash can which contents had ignited. Not paying attention to where he was going, he slammed into her prompting lighting her shirt on fire. Sam was already halfway up the stairs, carrying a vase of flowers, and hoping the water would be enough to put out the flames. Before he could decide whether to fling it on the woman or the trashcan, a young man suddenly materialized right next to them holding onto a fire extinguisher.

Pressing the handle, white foam exploded out of the tip of the nozzle, dousing both the trashcan, and the Latino man in whip cream. The newcomer, a man in his late twenties with windswept reddish-brown hair snapped off the spray and held its nozzle at the ready; he eyed the smoke rising up from both targets he had slathered.

"What the hell Barry!?" the Latino complained holding his arms up as fire retardant dripped from them like Christmas tinsel, "Aim for Kara. _Not_ for me!"

"Sorry," 'Barry' muttered, hugging the fire extinguisher to his chest. He glanced over at 'Kara' as she patted out the flames on her jacket nonplussed, "Didn't think it was worth it." He winced slightly, "Err...no offense."

She snorted, "Non-taken. I'm fire-proof as you remember the first time we met."

"Can some tell me what the hell is going on here?" Sam butted in, "Who are you people?"

"Our guests."

Sam turned and spotted Steve walking up the corridor towards them, Wanda in tow. Her face was wary as she eyed the lanky man who clutched the fire extinguisher. Barry avoided her gaze, suddenly finding more interest in his shoes which were blackened with shoot at the tips.

"Cap," Sam nodded his head politely to his friend, "Wanda. And I believe I already got your names—" he pointed to the woman and the brown haired man, "Kara and Barry right?" He looked at the Latino who was wiping the foam off his face and slogging it into the smoking trashcan, "And you are?"

"Cisco," he muttered, "And fyi...I was _not_ responsible for the ignited dumpster."

"Who are these people?" Sam asked again completing ignoring the last statement.

"We're from another universe," Barry answered cheerfully before looking thoughtful as he scratched his chin, "Or earth if you want to be more specific,"—he began to count off his examples on his finger tips—"or an earth of another universe, which might explain why there aren't any doppelgängers we've seen or vise versa."

The look on Sam's face must have spoken his confusion since Steve added helpfully, "Its a bit of a long story. Long story short, they're heroes from another universe. Believe me, its even taken me a while to understand it."

"Whom we fought," Wanda muttered pushing back a stray hair, "Before finding out."

"That explains the city," Sam deadpanned.

He glanced at Barry who was still hugging onto the extinguisher with a reddish expression on his face, "You okay man? You look like think I'm going to yell at you."

The other nodded, "I'm fine. Um...sorry about the whole..." he indicated the foam that coated everything.

Sam laughed, "Believe me pal. This is the most normal thing that's happened in this tower."

"And explains why Tony didn't believe that mixing silver nitrate, water, and powdered magnesium wouldn't go boom. Well not exactly since Barry extinguished it before it exploded," Cisco added helpful, "On our earth they do. Or maybe he did it on purpose."

Somehow Barry acquired one of Stark's tablets—he hadn't even moved or let go of the fire extinguisher—and scanned its screen for a couple of seconds, "Says here it reacts the same way it does on our earth. Amazing how there's even a Youtube on this earth."

"Then he did it on purpose," Sam clarified and rolled his eyes to the heavens, "Unbelievable. What caused his iron pants in a twist?"

"He's trying to replicate some tech I invented," Cisco snorted, "For a super-genius...he sure sucks at trying to get answers out of people."

Somehow, Sam got the impression that the statement was only part of the truth. Cisco's eyes seemed wary and he and Barry shared a knowing look for a moment.

"I take offense to that CR," the billionaire ass-hat himself had appeared on the scene, and Sam found himself itching to punch Stark in the face after all; forgetting about what he had noticed, "Bird-guy. Good to see you again."

* * *

191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _15:20 hours_

* * *

The flaming trashcan had so not been his fault.

Alright, maybe partially. Pepper had always been on him, telling him to label things to lessen the chances of having explosions going off in his lab every time he entered it.

The 'Bazinga Guy' ,—Tony found that calling Cisco by his last name didn't annoy him and decided to use the T-shirt he was wearing as a nickname in hopes it would—and him started bickering about whether or not to reconnect a 1.5 mm conductor wire to a 2 mm jumper wire. The suggestion to add a breadboard to keep from the wrong wires from potentially touching each other and igniting was shot down. Apparently, Cisco found and created a plastic component that prevented the wiring from overheating no matter what temperature they were in—yet they still could potentially freeze.

Then Tony had tried asking about his companions past, as well as Oliver, Barry, and super-hot alien lady. Cisco calmly explained that it wasn't his place to say anything, and pointed out that Oliver would probably kill both of them if he talked.

So out of frustration at himself and being stuck with someone as stubborn (and intelligent) as he was, Tony accidentally took it out on his first aid kit, and chemical rack. The end result was having a stick of silver nitrate (a numerous bandages) and a chunk of magnesium (as well as several other chemicals) landing in a trashcan full of water—remnants from the fire sprinklers going off earlier. It promptly ignited, sending Tony scrambling for a fire extinguisher. Unfortunately, by the time he got back the can was already gone.

Having a bad feeling where the kid had run off to with the trash, Tony followed the puddles of steaming water onto the cat-walk where he found his friends standing; as well as Sam who finally decided to show up.

"For a super-genius...he sure sucks trying to get answer out of people," Cisco had finished saying.

"I take offense to that Goggles (already maybe he had another annoying nickname up his sleeve)," Tony interjected making the other genius jump in surprise. The entire half of his body was coated in fire-extinguisher foam, and judging by Barry's embarrassed look, he had clearly been the culprit responsible. Tony wrinkled his nose up to keep from smirking before turning to Sam, "Bird-guy. Good to see you again."

The next thing Tony knew he was seeing stars and clutching at his stinging nose, "Ow." He frowned as he examined the blood staining his fingers, "What is it? Open season on Stark? Would you people _stop_ punching me?"

"I haven't punched you yet," Barry pointed out, kicking at a patch of foam on the carpet, "Neither has Cisco...yet."

"Not the point Speedy; he's already thrown a wrench at me which counts," Tony groused getting to his feet, and pinching his nose together to stanch the bleeding, "Would someone hand me a tissue? Before I pass out from blood loss?"

Kara rolled her eyes before extracting a tissue from her pocket and handing it to him. He took it gratefully and dabbed at his nose to clean it up. Wanda was snickering and made a supreme effort to not show it by hiding her mouth with her hand. Steve sighed slightly before turning to Sam, "Its good to see you again Sam. So what made you decide to come back?"

"My gut told me something was going down," Sam admitted warily eying Barry who calmly placed the tablet he had been holding down on the table, "How the heck did he even get that tablet?"

"He's a speedster," Tony grumbled wiping away a drop of blood dangling at the end of his nose.

Barry's dirty look made him look like Oliver for a moment, "Now I understand why Clint calls you 'Big-mouth'."

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thinking better of it, shut it. He looked at Wanda and back at the speedster, realization suddenly dawning in his eyes. But he didn't say anything, instead choosing to wipe some foam off of Cisco's jacket, "I can show you where the towels are if you like...um...Cisco right?"

"In that case I'll go put the fire extinguisher back," Barry sighed hefting the bright red can so that it was in a more comfortable position, "And get the vacuum."

"I'll go with you," Wanda blurted out suddenly.

Steve's face furrowed for a moment as he put a hand out to gently stop her. She looked back at him and a silent message passed between them. Cap nodded slightly, and allowed her to go. Barry's face went through a change of emotions in three seconds; one emotion amazingly for each second: surprise, nervousness, to calm. The speedster waited patiently until she was shoulder to shoulder with him before they walked forwards. Both however, would not look at each other and it was easy to tell that both were feeling uncomfortable.

"Well," Tony spoke up trying to break through the silence, "Perhaps you should all join me and Cisco in my lab to show what we've whipped up huh? You too Blondie. Do you like red wine, or white?"

He started walking gesturing for the others to follow him.

Kara snorted, "You're going to have to do better than that if you're thinking about asking me out. FYI, I already have a boyfriend, and I don't think he'd appreciate you making a move on me. He nearly as strong as I am."

Steve had a wide grin on his face, "I'm guessing in this day and age, stealing another's boyfriend/girlfriend is still met with the same response?"

"Yep," Cisco smirked at Tony who was desperately trying not to show the discomfort on his face, "I sure hope this statement holds as much weight as it does in this earth. You just got burned."

"I like you Cisco," Sam cracked a grin, "Took the words right out my mouth."

"Great," Tony groaned punching in the passcode to open the door to his lab, "You and Clint just joined the club on liking this newcomer. Lucky me since its open season on insulting Stark."

The door hissed open and he ushered them in. Cap arched an eyebrow upon spotting the charred remains of several pieces of tech on the table, but cleared his throat without following up with a response. Tony grumbling to himself swept the blackened pieces of metal into another trashcan clearing the table of it, before picking up a coil of wire. He grunted as his meager muscles in his arms strained before plunking it down on the table.

The wire was as thick around as his thumb and was braided with different colored wires giving it an interchanging pattern to it. The length could not be determined as it was tightly coiled around itself, but was incredibly heavy none the less.

"That's what you and Cisco have been working on?" Cap asked fingering the end of it lightly, "Wire?"

Was that exasperation in his voice? It was hard to tell since Tony could never recall Steve ever getting exasperated. Or if he did...showed it.

"Not just any wire," Cisco replied before Tony could. Obviously, Sam had swiped a spare towel from Tony's collection and had given it to him, as Ramon was whipping the fire extinguisher foam off himself, "Its a special wire. Created it from three different types of very strong metal that are dense and hard to break."

"Titanium alloy, steel, and a little bit of adamantium," Tony interrupted scratching his scruffy beard, "Its rare...though not as rare as Vibranium. But its just as strong."

"And why?" Sam asked furrowing his brow slightly.

"There is some type of interference preventing me from directly opening a breach to our earths," Cisco responded before Tony could, "We're not sure what it is exactly...but if I try a certain number of times we could actually find our earth. That's why your tracer couldn't pick us up. Since I have a...'connection' to opening breeches, I can create energy fields around myself and others that have the same vibrational frequency of the earth. Unfortunatly, I cannot control it which was why the energy pings you _did_ get kept fluctuating. Anyways the plan is—"

"Attatch the line to Speedy and whenever Ramon opens a breech, he can run through, make sure its the correct earth, and if it isn't, there is a way to retrieve him," Tony finished, pointly ignoring Cisco's glare.

"So basically its a safety line?" Steve managed to nod though he looked slightly baffled at the explanation, before frowning slightly, "Are you sure Barry is okay with this?"

"He's fine," Cisco responded waving his hand as if to brush off the statement, "This isn't the first thing he's guinea pigged for me. At any rate, Kara is going to be the one who's controlling the rope per say. You could be the watcher if you like. Sometimes things tend to come through and the last thing we need is a zombie from Earth Z getting here."

"Seriously?" Sam asked.

"Nah. Just teasing you dude," Cisco's expression turned thoughtful, "Though it could be possible..."

Both Steve's and Sam's expression turned worried; Tony struggled to keep from snickering.

"I remember Barry telling me about tech you had him try out," Kara remarked, "He mentioned something about a...treadmill?"

"In my defense, I did warn him about how hard he was going to hit the wall when he flew off it."

"Let me get this straight," Sam held his hand up before rubbing his forehead, "You have powers, you have powers"—he pointed to both Cisco and Kara in turn—"The kid who sprayed you with the fire extinguisher has powers. Is there anyone else I should know about who has powers?"

"Well...there's Oliver, and his power is being grouchy, and non trusting," Tony noted, "Where's Mr. Sourpuss anyways?"

"Sparing with Natasha," Kara said, "Again. Apparently...there's a bet going on..."

Tony coughed awkwardly and stuffed his hand in his pocket to crumple the twenty dollar bill out of sight. He seriously hoped neither of them had seen it; especially Kara. Apparently, she had X-ray vision as part of her powers and he hadn't figured out exactly which metal she couldn't see through. He drummed his fingers absently-mindedly on the table, "Anyways. We don't know how long its going to take. As soon as Speedy gets back from putting back the fire extinguisher we'll start."

There was a low rumbling sound grating in the background. Steve looked around, his brow furrowing slightly. The sound died away for a moment.

"I swear that isn't me," Tony put his hands up in the air, "I haven't eaten any chili or spicy food today."

Kara wrinkled her nose up in disgust, "If that was you...I'd march you to the nearest hospital to check out if it was an ulcer or something."

The rumbling nose started up once more like a constipated elephant before an alarm began to wail followed by the security metal doors clanging down and blocking all available exits.

That was when chaos started.

* * *

191612 _: Avengers Tower_

 _15:20 hours_

* * *

Wanda wanted to kick herself. Why had she agreed to do this?

She cast a nervous glance at Barry who seemed very focus on reading the label of the fire extinguisher. However, she caught him looking at her a split second before she looked at him. It was strange to see his face move so fast it seemed almost like the wing flaps of a hummingbird; an after image was only visible for a moment before it caught up to the rest of him.

"So um..." her tongue felt like lead as she gathered up the courage to speak to him, "You're...speedster?"

He stopped in his tracks for a moment and looked straight ahead. She didn't even bother stretching out her mind to read his; it would've been impossible. But she could sense he was scrambling for a reply that wouldn't upset her.

"Er...yeah...I guess," he fumbled with the extinguisher as he placed it back in its original location; wedged between a bookshelf and a cabinet full of scraps of metal—apparently Stark didn't know how to throw things away.

His eyes were a warm chocolate color, compared to Pietro's icy silver/blue color. They used to be grey, before the experiment and his hair brown. Had he and Barry been standing next to one another, the similarities between them would be staggering save for the eyes.

"Look I'm sorry for—," Wanda and Barry both said at the same time. Embarrassed, they coughed and looked away from one another.

The speeder's face had turned a bright shade of red, "You first." He looked away for a moment as he tried to search for the vacuum cleaner.

"I'm sorry for...you know..." Wanda's mind churned as she figured out what to apologize for ' _being distant?' 'tripping him in the street when we fought?' avoiding him?'_ , "Being...so..."

"Unwelcoming? Making me take a face plant at five hundred miles per hour?" he offered scratching the back of his head, "Um. No offense..." Finding no sign of the cleaner he sighed slightly and straightened up.

She laughed; a sound that both surprised and thrilled her at the same time. She had forgotten what it was like to laugh. Barry's facial expression make him look so innocent, and like an absolute dork. His mannerism was much like a twelve year old kid who was hesitant of what to say around a girl.

"Yes...all that," she didn't bother killing the smile until she realized that the speedster's inoffensive expression was much like Petro's it made her heart ache. That definitely killed it. Wanda looked away from him with a faint sigh and began walking down the corridor. She didn't even bother to look up to know that he was walking besides her apparently on giving up on finding the vacuum in the mess.

"I'm sorry for reminding you of him," Barry offered, jamming his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He frowned for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Were...you two...close?"

Wanda bit her lip hard enough to draw beads of blood on its surface. Were they close? She recalled one of the few times that she had gotten into trouble and was sent to her room without supper.

 _Eight year old Wanda lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling upon which she had scribbled drawings of the constellations of the stars that littered the night sky. All by using the glow in the dark crayon she had traded for a hat a few months earlier. Tears shone upon her cheeks which still held traces of baby fat that had yet to smooth out into sharp cheekbones. Her stomach growled; she was starving._

 _There was a faint shuffling noise at the window. Wanda sat up and narrowed her eyes to make out its shape in the darkness. A faint thud and low childlike tones cursing quietly as Pietro folded himself through the window. He stood up, and rubbed at his knee; his grey eyes gleaming in the shadows. Despite being the same age as Wanda, he was a good three inches taller than her, and skinny as a beanpole. His dark brown hair was in its absolute messy style; no matter how many time he slathered oil on his hair it still struck up everywhere._

 _"Mama thought that keeping us separated would teach you a lesson," he smirked, "For once my perfect little sister got into trouble."_

 _"You're going to get into trouble as well Pietro," she replied mulishly crossing her arms, "If she catches you here."_

 _"Ah no. She won't," Pietro smiled and reached into his pocket, "I'll be on the roof and into the guest bedroom before she realizes I am here"._

 _There was a faint crinkling sound as he placed a half-eaten chocolate bar into her lap. She scrambled to peel back the wrapper and crammed a piece of the sweet into her mouth. The rich taste of the cocoa bean settled onto her tongue and she closed her eyes to savor the flavor._

 _"Thank you Pietro," she said quietly._

 _He smiled, showing off a gap in his front teeth where he had knocked the baby tooth out when the test run of a broken bicycle (having removed his training wells with a 'borrowed' wrench from their father's workbench) went wrong. Pietro sat down at the bed with her and draped his hand over her shoulder as Wanda consumed the remainder of the chocolate bar. Sugar always made her drowsy so she was not surprised when she leaned her head against her brother's chest and fell asleep._

 _He stayed with her the entire night._

 _Their mother found out of course the next day due to the brown stains on her nightgown and the wrapper under the bed. But the beating that followed could not rid the taste of the chocolate bar as she savored it; and that her brother had shown how much he had loved her by bringing it to her._

Wanda didn't even realize she was crying until Barry placed a tissue against her fingers, "Stupid me. I shouldn't have asked. Sorry—"

"No," she sniffed and dabbed the tears off her face, "Its fine. You didn't mean any harm. Yes...we were very close."

Barry nodded slowly and after a moment's hesitation drew her in for a hug. She didn't even bother to resist. No one had hugged her in years. Not since signing up for the experimentation that gave her, her abilities. Not since going up against Ultron. Not since Pietro's death. Not since the team broke up...Steve would talk to her, but his old fashioned ideals made him hesitant to do so without her permission; something she never gave since she was never asked.

Wanda buried her face into the red jacket the speedster was wearing and inhaled smoke, electricity, ozone, and sweat. Somewhere within his chest, there was the solid beating of his heart; it was moving so fast that all she could hear was a faint humming noise—much like the wing beats of a hummingbird. She noticed that there was no romance in Barry's embrace, but rather made the gesture seem almost like a hug given by a sibling. Like Pietro. She bit her lip as emotions threatened to take over again and allowed them to subside. The speedster's arms felt like a barrier to the outside world; shielding her from its pain but it also allowed her inner pain to seep out.

Perhaps it came from all his years of rescuing people. Perhaps he did it to shelter them from the pain and danger around him, and to let out the pain he had within himself. His mind was unreachable, but she could sense a dark and horrible memory hidden within the folds of it; a memory that drove him to do what he did and what made him, him.

"Better?" Barry asked without relinquishing his iron like hold.

"Yeah," Wanda shifted slightly and he let her go. She smiled slightly, "You're a really good hugger."

He snorted softly as he chuckled, "Thanks. Never heard someone say that before." He smirked suddenly, "Oliver's not much of a hugger, but he even admitted I know how to give them."

Wanda laughed again, was surprised that the action allowed some light into her heart. Before she could again thank Barry, an alarm began to blare.

* * *

 **Tony's rigged elevator is molded after the Tower of Terror at Disney Land. Or should I say ' _Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout_ " now that the ride has been remolded. I have to admit, the ride itself is worth going on as the Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack relieves the tension of dropping and rising 100 to 150 feet at a time.**

 **Silver Nitrate is in a First Aid kit as it can be used to treat burns and small wounds. Its antibacterial so it prevents infections from setting into an injury.**

 **~~~...~~~**

 **Ok, fun facts over.**

 **At some point this story is going to be revised. Don't worry, I'm not going to delete it. I'm going to just improve the plot a little.**

 **But that is not what I want to ask...**

 **I'm working on a new story with an OC. The plot basically goes like this:**

 **In a world where HYDRA has been in charge since the 1990's, seventeen year Raya's world is shattered when a Shield Rebel appears in her apartment; critically wounded. His appearance surfaces memories that seem to be dreams that are all her in mind. It leaves her to question...are they dreams, or is the world she's lived in actually just smoke and mirrors?**

 **Do you think this sounds interesting? I would like people's take on it and whether I should go for it or not. Please answer or have your input in the reviews.**

 **~~~...~~~**

 **Also, the writer would appreciate if reviewers would please stop sending reviews that tell me to update soon constantly. It takes time to write each chapter, and it would be nice for people to be patient.**

 **Thank you.**

 **~Sil**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yes. We had Barry/Wanda interactions. It actually almost made me tear up when writing it.**

 **I apologize for this chapter being short. The next one will be a little longer...hopefully. As I have started classes at a University, much of my time is being eaten up doing homework and studying. I apologize for updates being slow, but I will try to provide them when possible. Also keep in mind that each chapter takes a while for me to proofread and add/delete parts.**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot.**

* * *

Earth 1: Arrow Cave

 _15:25_

* * *

Felicity was pissed.

Obviously she needed space, since everyone had vacated the lair. Even Curtis had left; coming up with a lame excuse that he needed to go buy a chicken with a double bacon wrap sandwich with curly fries in order to replenish the calories lost in eating only bread and packaged cheese for three days.

Her fingers tapped rapidly against the keyboard entering non-existent codes before suddenly stopping. Felicity groaned in frustration before shoving the keypad away from her, and sitting back in her chair, mulishly kicking at the trashcan under the table.

For first time in a while, their problem was not solvable by hacking alone.

Earth 38 had been a bust. Except from 'geeking out' (as Rene put it) over some of the tech and meeting an honest to goodness alien/Martian (who did have green skin and looked somewhat human in that form) and learning there were no such things as 'greys' (as well as Area 51 being a dumping ground for crashed alien tech and not alien prisoners)...there was really nothing else they along with Team Supergirl could find about the disappearances of their friends. Winn had motion sickness the moment he came through the portal to Earth 1 and was sleeping it off on the sofa in another room.

So, Felicity was not alone. At least her guest could obviously sleep through her shouting earlier and no doubt the noise she was making now.

She sighed before leaning her head back against the chair and closing her eyes; still kicking at the trash bin. She wrinkled her nose up upon smelling Big Belly Burger and opened her eyes to find Dinah standing over her. Felicity let out a little yelp and sat up suddenly, bruising her knee on the bottom of the table.

"Sorry," Dinah winced sympathetically before holding out a grease stained bag with the burger joints trade mark logo, "I brought dinner." She then noticed the trash can which had several dents in the black plastic, "You done beating up that thing yet?"

Felicity's mouth watered but she didn't try to take the food—yet—and avoided answering the question, "Did you get it?"

"I have to admit I felt guilty stealing info on the speedster and Oliver's alter ego," Dinah grumbled plopping the bag down on the table and withdrawing the flash drive, "From both my former boss and my current one. Hope it has what you need."

She dropped it on the table with disgust since it was Hello Kitty design in order to prevent suspicion. Felicity quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into the HDM portal in the side of the laptop. The end of the flash drive blinked rapidly a bright purple color as files became downloaded onto the screen.

" _Hello Kitty gone bad_ ," Felicity thought with a faint smile, before saying out loud, "Sorry for the girly flash drive. I know you're not into this...girly stuff. It was the only one left in the ninety-nine cent store."

"I have to respect this one," Dinah admitted leaning on the edge of the table, "Since the creepy cartoon character turned into a badass."

Files flashed upon the screen as the algorithm quickly sorted through all them; occasionally one would become highlighted in yellow and placed off to the side. After a couple minutes, the computer chimed pleasantly and closed down a majority of the files, leaving behind the ones that held the most information they needed. Felicity removed the flash drive and wedged it under a pile of papers.

She was aware of Dinah leaning over her shoulder to glance at the screen. The remaining files held meager, if little info. Fortunately, the program Felicity had created made it easier to compile a short list of information that they knew and some they did not know.

 _Time of disappearance: Tuesday 3:00 pm, June 4th 2017_

 _Cause of disappearance: Unknown_

 _Eyewitness accounts: Witness report seeing a bright blue flash of light that destroyed two city blocks, taking the three vigilantes with it and the attacking mechanical robots. No further information is known._

And then came something curious at the bottom of the page that made Felicity's heart become caught in her throat. Most of it sounded as if it had been written in cryptic ancient Egyptian, but she was able to translate some of what had been written.

 _Miscellaneous observations: Connected to people appearing out of nowhere and no known records? Mysterious deaths? No witnesses to said deaths but bodies appear after a flash of blue light._

Felicity said the only thing that came to her mind, "Oh...my...God."

Dinah's eyes widened as she read what her friend has read. Rather than freak out—like Felicity was about three seconds from doing—she replied calmly, "Perhaps we should inform the other members."

"Yes...yes of course," Felicity muttered pulling up an email link, "But not _our_ teammates quite yet."

"S.T.A.R. Labs?" Dinah wrinkled her nose up, "Isn't that place suppose to be closed to the public...I mean when the museum isn't open?"

Apparently she had been doing research on what and whom had giving her, her sonic scream ability. Which meant either she was going to get along with Barry's team, or not when she met them.

"Not quite...you'll see," Felicity typing rapidly the frantic message, _Hopefully someone won't think we've gone crazy..._

* * *

Earth 1: Cortex of S.T.A.R Labs

 _15:30_

* * *

Caitlin bit her lip as the liquid in the vial spilled over, promptly igniting a pile of papers. Papers that may or may not have been important.

Either way, she used her half-drunk water bottle to douse the flames as it was nearest to her; the ink ran, further ruining whatever was written on what was burning. The fire made a sizzling sound as the grey smoke turned white as it wafted up to the ceiling.

"That's unconventional," a voice from behind her, made her jump slightly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it was Wally. His eyes had dark circles under them, and his clothes which were usually neat, were in shambles. After the earth-quake, he had been running himself thin prompting Caitlin to place him under strict orders to sleep it off in the Medbay. Out of sheer stubbornness, Wally had at first refused; saying that Barry wouldn't stop looking if he—Wally—had been the one to go missing. Iris was the one responsible for convincing him it was necessary—making a point of mentioning that if he didn't, she would pour an entire bottle of Temazepam in his drinking water.

God...Iris. Caitlin winced slightly. Out of all them she had taken it the hardest. She wasn't sleeping well and was hardly eating to the point that her editor was concerned that she was ill. In a way she was.

"Only thing I had," Caitlin responded with a slightly smile turning towards Wally. She frowned disapprovingly, "You should be sleeping right now."

"Couldn't sleep," he replied with a yawn.

She glared at him with the same look a mother would give a sick child. He pointy ignored it and shuffled into the room. Nervously, he brushed the ashes off the desk into the trashcan on the side.

"I uh...was just thinking," he offered.

"About what?" Caitlin realizing it was pointless to argue with him, set about cleaning up her side of the desk. Cisco's workspace was an absolute pigsty, but knowing how much it bothered him when she tided it, she left it be. However, she did pick up a coffee mug to wash the two week old stain it left on the surface.

"About..." Wally moved to pick up a T-Rex action figure Cisco left lying on the ground, and spoke as he straightened up, "if they are alive. I mean...I don't think they really did die. Do you?" He figited with the figurine, and didn't appear to want to put it down unless he got an answer.

Caitlin looked at the ground wondering if she should tell him about the lengthy email Felicity had just sent five minutes earlier. About how there was a sixty percent chance that their friends had ended up on an alternate earth, rather than become piles of ashes on the streets of Star City. Despite that, getting stuck on an alternate earth was just as bad as becoming apart of the spontaneous combustion statics; it was better that they ended up as the former.

"I'm not sure," she hated it when she lied. Her throat felt as if it were full of cement, and her palms became sweaty, She tapped her finger on the desk to postpone the symptoms, "Kara perhaps had a chance. She's...invulnerable after all. And Barry...there's a possibility he got away and is held up somewhere in a hospital. And Oliver...he's a survivor. Cisco could've opened a portal to escape...the possibilities—"

"You sound just like H.R." Wally grumbled, "He's been saying the exact same thing except in a more naïve way."

"You rang?" the author stuck his head around the corner, his hat perched at an angle on the top of his wild hair.

"No. I was just leaving anyways," Wally dropped the figurine on the desk, and raced out of the room, sending piles of unanchored papers everywhere. Caitlin sighed, and set about picking them up.

"He seems to be avoiding you," she mentioned lamely.

More like ignoring. Caitlin wondered what had gone on between the two...normally they were as thick as thieves.

H.R. gave her an odd look; perhaps weariness or agreement before stepping into the room to help her, but she waved him off. He arched an eyebrow, and leaned against the desk with his arms crossed.

"Wallace seems tense," he offered in answer, for once wearing a serious expression on his face.

"I feel bad lying to him," Caitlin explained, standing up so she could face the author, "But who knows how he would react if I told him."

"I'm pretty sure Glasses instructions were _not_ to let him know," H.R shrugged as he mentioned his nickname for Felicity, "She also mentioned that there was only one other person on the Robin's Hood's team she informed."

He plucked one of his drumming sticks from his pocket and began to twirl it around between his fingers.

"So in other words we are going to have to keep this quiet until we can figure out how to bring them home?" Caitlin sighed.

"Precisely," he grinned pointing the stick at her like a pistol, "Now get that frown off your face. I'll treat you to some Big Belly Burger...and over it I'll tell you what went on between Wallace and me." He extended his arm towards he like a gentle-men of old and jokingly faked a French accent, "Milady."

She sighed again in response as she slipped her arm into the crock of his elbow; she couldn't help but smile a bit, "I just hope wherever they are, they're ok."

"I'm sure they're fine," H.R snorted as they exited out the door of S.T.A.R labs, "I mean...how much trouble do you think they can get in? B.A. especially...its not like he's going to throw himself off a building or anything. Iris would kill him...metaphorically speaking of course."

Caitlin smiled again, this time with a wider length. H.R. always seemed to know what to say in order to cheer her up. "I suppose you're right," she said, "Still...I'm going to prepare a long chewing out speech for the two of them when they get back."

 _If they get back_.

* * *

Earth 191612 _:_ _Avengers Tower_

 _15:32 hours_

* * *

Barry hated high pitched noises. Mostly since Cisco gleefully used a sound mixture composed of air horns and sirens to wake him if he ever fell asleep in the cortex.

The blaring alarm was no different. Barry and Wanda immediately clamped their hands over their ears and winced. The noise still penetrated the makeshift ear plugs and pounded against their eardrums.

"What—" the speedster jumped as Tony's A.I sprang to life.

The eerily human like tones of the program gave him the creeps. He knew that at some point he would invent an artificial intelligence called 'Gideon' in the future, but it still didn't help the shock factor that the ceiling was talking and that it sounded exactly like a cheerful woman (even in situations like the current one).

" _Mr. Allen and Ms. Maximoff. I'm afraid to report that there has been a perimeter breach and the tower has activated lockdown. You are requested to report to the training facility and await further instructions._ "

"Perimeter breech!?" Wanda shouted over the noise, "By whom!?"

" _That is hard to say at the moment. Please go to the training facility. Hurry!_ "

Barry knowing better than to stay and argue with something that would not listen to reason, gently slipped his hand into Wanda's and tugged her along. With the blind turns and pulsating red light overhead, it made it hard to make out any obstacles in their way. So when they literally collided into Clint, it came to no surprise. All three of them fell to the ground all tangled up in each other's legs and Clint's bow. For a moment, all Barry could see were stars until he shook off the dizziness and said the most logical thing that came to mind.

"Ow."

"Ugh," the archer sat up clutching his forehead with a wince, "Whaddya you have under that skull Quick Feet? Vibranium? You have one hell of a noggin." He paused for a moment as if suddenly remembering what he was doing there, "And what the hell is going on? Can a man even have a decent nap for once?"

"Perimeter breech?" Wanda managed to shove both men off her with surprising strength, "I didn't even know Tony had an alarm for that." She stood up and looked at the lights with a worried expression—a fearful expression. Before Barry could elaborate, Hawkeye spoke up.

"He has an alarm for anything," Clint replied dryly, "Even for when its time to change his underwear."

Despite the situation, the archer's dry tone perfectly mimicked Oliver's. Barry cracked a grin as he got to his feet and offered his hand out to help his friend, "He's going to kill you if he knew you did it."

"Which is why he's not going to hear about it," Clint smirked standing up with Barry's help, "Like...ever. If he ever finds out I'll deny it."

"You did good with the gravely tone," Barry admitted, "But it has to be a little rougher. Like... _"I'm Oliver Queen and I hate my lair being called the 'Arrow Cave and my team being called Team Arrow'_ '."

His voice was spot on, and Clint bent over laughing so hard he had tears coming down his face. Even Wanda laughed slightly. The archer wiped his eyes and gasped for breath. Their laughter only drowned out the noise of the alarm somewhat, but it came back. Then just as suddenly, it was abruptly cut off. Barry frowned and Clint picked his bow up with a grim expression.

"That means either two things," he said his cheek muscles twitched slightly as they tightened, "Either Tony killed the alarm. Or—"

"Someone else did," Barry finished.

He fiddled nervously with the zipper on the bottom of his jacket. Despite it being new, the zipper was well worn from his constant rubbing. Rather than express his uncertainty, the speedster followed behind Clint as the archer crept slowly down the hall. Wanda followed for a time, until Clint softly told her to go check on Tony and the others. She obeyed, but only after glancing at Barry who nodded his permission.

 _"So it is two, against who knows who or whom. Great,_ " the speedster thought, " _Lucky us_."

However, he knew that Clint was very skilled and at the moment, was happy that at least there was someone there. He still didn't completely trust everyone in the tower, but the near death experience(s) under the city had depleted whatever mistrust both men had towards each other.

The archer suddenly stopped at the blind corner that allowed a view of the 'living room' and the city. He crouched and held his right hand up, fingers tightened into a fist. The message was easily read.

 _Stop_

Barry crouched down next to him and tried peering over Clint's shoulder. The archer used his left arm to push him gently back, before tapping his finger softly against the wall.

 _Tap tip tip taptaptap/ taptiptaptap taptaptap tiptiptap /tiptiptap taptip taptiptip tip tiptaptip tiptiptiptap tiptap taptip taptiptip/ taptap taptaptap tiptaptaip tiptiptip tip/ taptiptaptip taptaptap taptiptip tip tiptiptaptaptipt._

For a moment it took a while for the message to make sense. Barry blinked for a moment wondering where he had heard this technique used before. Then it dawned on him.

 _"Ronnie. Marten Stein. Military Base. Illegal held against will and kidnapping. Eilling. Duh._ "

Morse code.

Barry was rusty when it came to understanding the outdated form of communication but knew enough to go by. The tapping formed into a pattern as Clint repeated the message again.

-.. - / -.- - ..- / ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - .- -. -.. / - - .-. ... . / -.-. - -.. . ..-..

Or in other words.

" _Do you understand Morse Code?"_

Barry used his knuckled to tap out his own message using the meager vocabulary he had learned from an old book he found in the Central City Public Library, " _Some. Not too complicated words. How do u know?_ "

He winced hating not completing the full spelling of 'you', but figured that the situation they were in gave him an excuse not to finish spelling full words. Clint didn't appear to have such qualms as he tapped out another message with full spelling.

" _Yet another thing you're good at._ "

The archer turned and grinned at him to show him that the dig with good natured, before turning forwards and waiting for a response. Barry acted accordingly.

" _Long story. Friends got stuck in military base. Illegally taken. Used Morse Code to give location_."

" _Right,_ " the rapping sound didn't have sarcasm attached to it but it might as well had.

The speedster rolled his eyes before becoming serious, " _How many?"_

" _Hard to see. Blind corner. I think I see one tango. May be more._ "

Clint stood up and knocked an arrow into his bow. He glanced back at Barry before gesturing his head towards the living room and using the last three fingers on his left hand to paint in that direction. The motion was pretty obvious, and Barry sighed.

" _Hit and shoot. Great. Obviously Oliver taught him the gesture or he figured it out by watching our fight earlier_."

The speedster inhaled deeply for a moment before dashing around the corner and flying down the stairwell. It was hard to make out his surroundings as they flew past him, but he managed to target the stranger standing with his back to him. The 'tango' was a tall African American man and was wearing a black trench coat that went down to his knee caps. In the blink of an eye, Barry had his opponent pinned against one of the supporting walls in the living room; an arm bared tightly under his neck. The speedster was aware of Clint easily leaping from the top floor down, and stepping up behind him with an arrow pinned directly at the stranger; ignoring all the stray papers that were whipping around them.

He was also aware of the smell of burning rubber and clothing.

The stranger didn't seemed fazed at all, that a man had appeared out of no where and was pushing him against a wall. His good eye gave Barry a one over; his left eye was covered by a black eye patch that was frayed at the edges. The speedster noted other descriptions: his patched eye had scars on the skin around it, he had his right hand hidden within the folds of his jacket as if he were reaching for a gun, and he was relaxed despite the fact he was pined to the wall.

"Who the hell are you?" Barry asked knowing exactly how long it would take him to disarm the stranger.

He got his answer the next second...at least for his question.

"Fury you son of a bitch," Clint's lip curled up into a snarl of disgust but he lowered his bow, "We could've killed you. Or me at least. Where the hell have you been?"

"If Mr. Allen releases me I can answer," 'Fury' responded calmly, "Or do you prefer Barry?"

Barry jerked away as if he had been holding onto a live rattlesnake rather than a man. He stepped back and glanced nervously at Clint who didn't seem phased...or pleased. Obviously the two knew each other, and Clint didn't seem to be fond of the other. Slowly, Barry relaxed though his muscles were still tense from adrenaline; his jaw began to ache from clenching it too tight.

"Been doing your research I see," the archer narrowed his eyes, "And still keeping secrets huh? How long have you known?"

"Since your little stunt in the center of the city," Fury slipped a tablet out from under his coat—apparently what he had been reaching for when Barry first 'caught' him— and held it up for them to see, "Nicely done. You just sent the media into a feeding frenzy." He pressed something and the screen was displayed holographically above the device in two dimensions.

There was news footage and amateur footage darting across virtual screen. There was no audio but the message was obvious. Footage of Kara and Tony's fight kept being brought up and there was even a clip of Steve flinging his shield, followed by a notice of a warrant out for his arrest by the U.S. Army.

"In my defense I didn't go for this," Barry spoke up.

He would have said more, but Fury's good eye zeroed in on him and he felt the urge to shut up. It was pretty clear that the man was good at giving even dirtier looks than Oliver. Which meant if the two met, they would either get along like a house on fire, or like a pair of rivals. Either meeting didn't sound particularly pleasant.

"Let him talk," Clint nodded approvingly in the speedster's direction, "He saved my life, and that's something I owe him."

"So he's not a threat?" Fury asked disapprovingly slipping the tablet back under his coat, "What if he wasn't? He almost took my head off right now in case you didn't notice. What about that woman...Kara? The one the media is calling 'Supergirl'? What about her? She could easily destroy a city with one punch. The archer, someone who rivals even your skills. Not to mention that Tony did a real swell job keeping this low profile."

Barry opened his mouth to protest, but was stop by a glance from Clint. The archer looked at him warningly though kindly. The speedster reluctantly withheld the barrage of words he had prepared.

" _I didn't almost take your head off G.I Joe,_ " he thought with a faint smirk on his face, grateful that at least he could be sarcastic in a way it didn't get him yelled at.

Hawkeye sighed heavily before slipping the arrow back into his quiver and leaning the bow against the sofa. His right hand however, hovered near his back pocket where a hidden knife handle dully gleamed.

"Why are you here Nick? Need a new high-tech eye patch?"

"Just because I'm no longer your commanding officer doesn't give you a reason to mock me. It also includes the fact that if you stab me, you're going to regret it," Fury answered indignantly. Barry looked at Clint mildly alarmed that his hidden knife had been discovered; the archer had no response except for a scowl, and bringing both his hands to the couch in front of them. Fury continued as if nothing happened, '"No...I don't _need_ another eye patch Barton. I'm here to discuss something with Stark. Obviously, he's become paranoid. It took me longer than expected to disarm his alarm."

"Can't blame him," Barry spoke up his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked between the archer and 'trench-coat'; realizing that the only reason that they were being civil with words was because he was in the room, "After what he and Kara did to the city. I mean...the military and the city will out to get him."

"The city is hardly the one he has to worry about," Fury said for once giving him an approvingly look, "Its the government. Hmpf...I guess you're smarter than you let on..."

"What is that suppose to mean?" the speedster protested.

Fury only replied with a knowing smile.

"Not to mention we're going to have to enjoy a meeting with General...pardon _Secretary_ Ross at some point. The biggest 'ass-hat' in the world right next to Hitler as Scott Lang classifies him," Clint said with dark humor. His knuckles turned white as he tightened them on the couch back.

"Sound a bit like General Eiling," Barry noted and counted off his descriptions on his fingertips, "Is this General...um...Secretary...a bigot, control-freak, and absolutely can't stand people with powers and tries to control them?" He wondered if he should include 'totally demented' but decided it wasn't worth it.

"That pretty much sums him up in a nut-shell."

There was a faint noise on the second floor, and all three men looked up. The others were there looking down. A few of them looked relieved—Steve, Kara and Sam—, others suspicious,—Wanda and Cisco—, and in Oliver's case both suspicious and annoyed, and the rest indifferent, Tony and Natasha. In Tony's case, he had to crack a joke.

"So its Popeye. Figured as much. Which means Steve owes me thirty bucks."

Amazingly, Fury somehow managed to ignore the insult, "We have much to discuss. Might as well take a seat...this may take more than a while to explain."

* * *

 **Tap stands for dash, tip stands for dot, and dash stands for space. Usually the standard for saying Morse Code is Dah for dash and dit for dot. However, this is sound effect and not someone saying it.**

 **Fun fact: Dah and dit can be said without moving your mouth (if you practice enough). This was used by POW's in camps where speaking was forbidden during WWII.**


	20. Chapter 20

**So Fury showed up. But his meeting is not going to be a pleasant one.**

 **Disclaimer: I own only the plot.**

* * *

Earth 191612 _:_ _Avengers Tower_

 _15:40 hours_

* * *

Kara wasn't exactly sure what to make of the new comer.

The Avengers avoided him like the plague, and even Barry who was usually friendly to newcomers, decided to sit next to Steve—the only person who managed to snag a spot that was the farthest away from 'Fury'. Oliver was the opposite; he sat directly across from the newcomer, hand in his pocket which held a hidden knife. It was pretty obvious that he was mistrusting despite Natasha pulling him to the side and explaining that Fury was on their side.

Most times Oliver's 'dark and scary' mentality reminded Kara of one of Clark's friends (whom she met once and decided he must be an goth in civilian mode since he was constantly creeping her out)—a guy with affinity with bats and gadgets. Usually, she took the time to point out it would be better if Oliver was nicer, but at the moment she realized it was a good thing he was on guard. Until they knew who Fury was, they should be alert.

Still, realizing that their group should make a better impression on the man, Kara sat next to him and gave him a small smile. He eyed her with his one eye before taking a cautious sip from the ice tea that Tony had set out for the entire group in tall clear glassed cups typically used for serving beer. Initially Tony _had_ wanted to serve booze, but was rejected. It didn't stop him for putting a shot of vodka in his own drink.

"You finally figured out how to measure out sugar Stark," Fury managed to make the sarcastic comment sound anything but sarcastic.

"Are you going to just sit there and compliment me on my culinary abilities or are you going to explain to us why you activated the S.A.N.E protocol?" Tony had a sliver of a frown on his face though he somehow managed to make the comment snarky.

" _I'm pretty sure that you have non-existent cooking skills_ ," F.R.I.D.A.Y spoke cheerfully from the ceiling, " _Its been thirty-three days since you lit the entire kitchen on fire_."

Kara covered her mouth with her hand to politely hide the smile she had. Tony glared at the space above them before grumbling something about A.I's being too truthful.

"S.A.N.E.?" Fury stirred his tea with his finger, "You finally decided to name protocols with acronyms?"

"Okay...so maybe you rubbed off on me," Tony grumbled holding both his hands up in defense, "Stands for SAfety NEt. Or it did until Blondie here punched the safety door down."

"You're weren't getting anywhere with the computer," she snorted before adding teasingly, "And plus I needed to punch something after you kept annoying me."

"Better consider yourself lucky it wasn't your face," Oliver had something close a wicked grin on his face. But he still hadn't relinquished his grip on the knife.

Tony paled slightly, and suddenly found interest in the surface of his ice tea laced with alcohol. Fury's expression didn't become friendlier, but his lips softened slightly. He calmly placed his glass down on the table and reached into his coat. Out of the corner of her eye, Kara spied Oliver tensing up and gripping the handle of the hidden knife tighter. She prayed that he wouldn't throw it; Fury was reaching for a tablet as far as she could tell, and she couldn't see any hidden weapons within it.

The man tossed device down onto the table and a video feed sprang up as a video hologram. Barry turned his head slightly and Clint looked uncomfortable as the feed played. It was pretty obvious they had already seen it or knew it was coming. Kara closed her eyes for a brief second as her stomach churned uncomfortably. It sounded way too much like Cadmus for her taste.

" _How do we not know about these new superhumans? And I thought that...the former 'Avengers' were safety locked away in a top secret facility until they agreed to the Accords terms,"_ a balding middle age man argued to members of congress. Spittle shot from his lips like buckshot, making the senators closest to him to lean back to avoid getting sprayed.

The Accords. Kara could sense that Barry clenched his fist when it was mentioned. Yes, they had read about then. About how the US government did not appreciate superhumans and heroes going around of their own free will, and wanted to control what they did and when they went. No wonder that the Avengers seemed to be shattered apart...since some agreed and others disagreed.

Kara shuttered slightly. She wondered what her own friends would do if they were met with the same order. She knew that they would be against it...but...

" _We can assure you Mr. Quartermaine, that the situation is under control_ ," a burly senator from Florida replied calmly. But his heart beat sounded irregular to Kara's ears and she muttered quietly, "He's lying."

Natasha was the only one who heard her, and looked at Kara for a moment before listening intently to the news feed.

" _I know Secretary Ross...formally General may I add...is not here at the moment, but he is unpleased about the results that are coming forth from both Congress and the White House_ ," Mr. Quartermaine practically seethed the words, " _He is so unpleased that he went to the center of the fighting in New York himself!_ "

"Fucking liar," Clint muttered twirling a toothpick between his two fingers, "That coward didn't even show until _after_ our fight was over. I only know since I got an anonymous tip from someone."

He made a point to forgo his informer with a quick half smile and a knowing wink.

For a brief moment, Kara caught a glimpse of worry in both Steve and Tony's eyes. She frowned, wondering why a man...a former general...would worry them. There was a wave of muttering about the chairs of Congress, forcing a secretary from Wisconsin to pound the bottom of a lamp on the table to silence them. He stood up and spoke softly.

" _Perhaps we are taking this a bit too far_ ," he spoke earnestly _,"We do not know much about these...new superhumans..., nor their abilities or identities. Perhaps we can give them a chance and talk to them peacefully. Perhaps they do not pose a threat to us at all."_

Mr. Quartermaine took a deep breath as if to get ready to unleash another tirade of anti-hero propaganda, but the senator continued; completely ignoring him.

" _I know that members of Congress and members of the United Nations debated on the Sokovia Accords. Many of us were for it, but a few like myself were against it even though we were...forced into agreeing. These accords required the Avengers and other super humans/heroes to work for us, and allow us to tell them where to go, and what problems to deal with_."

" _We know what the Accords were for_ ," a Senator from Texas growled, " _Get to the point Senator Matthews_."

" _The point I'm trying to make, Senator Robinson and Mr. Quartermaine...is that by doing so we are gods like the heroes. Giving them orders and punshing those who don't follow them...like Captain Steve Rodgers for example,"_ —Kara noticed Steve lower his head—" _is wrong. So I can't really blame whoever 'attacked' if that is what you are going to call it, New York. It seems like a big misunderstanding to me._ "

" _And what makes you say that Matthews?_ " Mr. Quartermaine had such a condescending and smug smirk that Kara wished she could reach through the screen and smack it off his face.

" _I have a sister in New York. She would've died had it not been for one of these new 'super-humans'_ ," the Senator replied calmly, " _So if you want to go to war against them... fine. You can count me out_."

He sat down and the entire chamber erupted into pandemonium. Fury cut off the fed and sat back in his chair. The room was as silent as a tomb.

"That feed was from this morning," he said, "It's only because of a few members of Congress and the Vice President that this Tower's Door hasn't been knocked down by Ross."

"Who's Ross?" Kara asked.

"Remember that idiot we dealt with when the Dominators invaded earth?" Barry muttered.

"Yeah. The one the President relocated to Antarctica because he tried to force you to give yourself up to them in order to save the planet, and his hide?"

"Picture someone two times worse than that and you'll get the picture."

"Great..." Kara muttered, "Agent Smith was the second human that I felt punching into space. Now I'm probably going to add a third to the list."

She frowned slightly, realizing that her statement would probably make the Avengers feel guarded. They didn't exactly say much to what she had said, but it was easy to tell that they felt like inching a few inches away from her. All except one.

"If it makes you feel any better," Clint smirked, "I'd pay for front row seats to see that. Strap him to a booster rocket and I'll buy the entire front two rows."

Steve who had hardly spoken at all, spoke quietly, "Does Ross know we are here?"

Fury sighed heavily before placing his empty ice tea cup down, resting one of his hands on the table next to the tablet, "He _suspects_ but he doesn't have any proof. I'd warn against letting anyone in the building leave however for the time being until you figure out exactly what brought them here. Or allowing any of your...unwanted guests permission to go out. As long as they no longer cause any more problems, perhaps this can blow over."

He waved his hand towards Kara and the rest of her friends. The gesture was quick, as if the man had been trying to shoo off a swarm of flies rather than point out a group of individuals. Kara realized that the expression she had been seeing on Fury's face since first walking into the room was suspicion and hostility.

 _He doesn't like us_ she realized.

Oliver must have noted this as well. There was a brief flash of silver as he flung the knife. The blade sunk up to its hilt into the wooden table, having impaled itself directly between Fury's fingers. It rocked back and forth with a faint grating noise as the metal vibrated. Fury hadn't even budged, despite most of the Avengers leaping to their feet defensively; Clint included even though he looked hesitant and slightly envious. Oliver stood up to his full height as he glanced down at the man with an odd expression on his face. It was somewhere between furious and passiveness.

"You don't have to right to tell us where and where we cannot go," he said calmly, "My team isn't apart of this earth...or apart of the former team you pulled together eight years ago. We had some misconceptions at first, but we got past it once one my friends saved a member of this team. This... _meeting_ was not our fault, so I do not appreciate you blatantly stating it is. "

"I was never implying that this was your fault Mr. Queen," Fury answered, yanking the knife out of the table and tossing it careless to the ground, "Instead I was—"

"Cut the crap," Oliver snapped;his hands clenched into fists, "I've known people like you. You're afraid of what you cannot understand...and what you cannot control. Secrets, lies, and hidden agendas...I've been there before." He leaned forward and was nose to nose with the man, even though Natasha reached for a holstered gun on her hip and cocked back the safety, "You want something from us...and you know the only way to get it is by keeping us here until you can get it. So what is it?"

Fury didn't answer but only narrowed his eyes, "I'm afraid that is classified information only for the people who originally belong to this earth, son."

Barry visibly flinched, and muttered something. Steve turned to him and asked something quietly. Because of her enhanced hearing, Kara was able to hear the conversation, even though no one else in the room could.

" _What is it?_ " Steve asked.

" _In about two seconds I think Oliver is going to throttle him,"_ the speedster whispered through gritted teeth, " _The last thing we need is for that to happen. Otherwise I don't know how your friends are going to react."_

Oliver's face had turned a shade of molten lava, and his fingers clenched again slightly, digging deep into the wood, "I think you'd find me not to be a fan of the term, 'classified'."

"I'm afraid you won't have me be extremely trusting towards your group on account of what you did to the city," Fury spoke calmly, "Despite my reservations, I'd like you off this earth as soon as possible."

"He needs to shut up, he needs to shut up!" Cisco hissed.

His knuckles were pure white as he began to clench the armrests of his chair and there was an odd expression on his face. Oliver glowered at Fury for a split second before turning and abruptly pacing the room. It was clear that he didn't want to start a fight. Cisco visibly relaxed.

"We'll get off your earth as soon as we can," Barry spoke levelly, though Kara could sense annoyance wafting off him, "I can assure you that we will not harm anyone while you are here."

"Hmpf. Maybe you won't. But what about the rest of your team? Can you account for their actions?"

The speedster winced as Fury inadvertently labeled him team leader. Kara knew that Barry was not much of a fan of being in charge, and preferred to be the one taking orders rather than giving them. But, he _was_ an excellent leader; always processing his thoughts before his actions.

"Yes. I can promise I can keep them in check...especially Oliver," Barry didn't even bat an eye as he looked in Fury's one good one.

The man actually smiled, "That is all I need to hear."

He stood up and held his hand out, "I will always respect someone who takes responsibility for their actions."

Barry hesitated before shaking it.

"Hold on a second," Tony held his hands up, one held horizontally and the other vertically on top one another; the universal symbol for 'time-out', "You're the leader of this motely crew Speedy?"

"Took you that long to realize that Stark?" Natasha muttered holstering her gun, "I figured that out when we first met him."

The rest of the Avengers relaxed and put away their weapons, clearly seeing that the standoff was over. Kara however, could still sense the tension.

"Yeah..." Barry grimaced as the tips of his ears flushed bright red, "I always end up with the short straw."

Cisco fiddled with the back of the chair and asked, "Hang on. Was this a test or something to see if we would attack you or something?"

Fury only gave a knowing smile.

"I have to ask," Tony smirked holding his fingers up as if he were measuring their group for a photo, "You guys have a name?"

Barry shook his head, while Cisco shrugged, "Never came up with one. Any ideas I _had_ got shot down." He gave a pointing look at the speedster who made a point of ignoring him.

"God. What was it? Justice Force or something...sounds like rock band," Oliver shook his head obviously having forgotten his outburst at Fury.

"Hey. Legends of Tomorrow isn't much better," Cisco shot back, "If I recall you might have put that idea in their heads."

Sam had been pretty quiet throughout the entire exchange, but his lips made a perfect O when Cisco spoke. By the expression on his face, Kara judged that he was shocked that Cisco hadn't had his head chewed off by Oliver.

 _Obviously he doesn't see that Oliver does have an off switch on his kill mode,_ she thought.

"So why did you really come here Fury?" Steve asked calmly though Kara could tell he was irritated, "To see how fast they could potentially kill you?"

"No," Fury stood up and clasped his hand behind his back. He walked over to the wide paned windows and looked out at the city skylights, "To warn you."

"About what?" Kara was surprised her voice was the one had spoken up. She immediately retracted back, half-expecting someone to call her out.

"That this has happened before. Or at least...Shield assumed it has."

* * *

Earth 191612: Avengers Tower

16:00 hours

* * *

Had Fury had suddenly appeared in the S.T.A.R Labs cortex Cisco figured his reaction to the intruder would have ended differently than it had with the Avengers. Sure they knew him...but still, it was unnerving how he managed to break in.

He drummed his fingers against his knees, and chewed his bottom lip trying to block out the headache that was coming on. Past experience he would've popped Advil and called it a day. Now with powers...he knew it was more than a headache. He winced as a vibe threatened to pound against his cerebral cortex. But he didn't want to vibe...not here in front of everyone; mostly people made up of people he didn't trust.

Well...everyone except for Clint. He kinda of threw out the non-trust issues after saving Barry.

The sharp-eyed archer looked at Cisco as if he knew what he was thinking. Cisco offered him a shaky fake smile in response, hoping the archer would buy it. Clint didn't. He narrowed his eyes slightly but didn't say a word.

"What do you mean this has happened before?" Barry asked suspiciously.

Fury huffed, "Have you ever heard of...Sergeant Raymond Morris?"

"Um...no. I'm not around from here so..."

"Disappeared in 1943," Fury continued as if he hadn't even asked the question, "Without a trace after a run in with a terrorist organization called Hydra."

"And then you found him," Cisco said without meaning too, in a dazed tone, "Nearly seventy years later looking as if he hadn't aged a day."

Now it was time for everyone except for his friends to give him a slightly shocked look. Cisco wrinkled his nose up to keep from smiling and also to prevent the trickle of images flowing in his brain from becoming a flow. He was already getting brief glimpses of a tall, red head and freckled, twenty or so young man appearing in the middle of downtown Los Angels in an WWII era uniform; a gun locked and loaded in his hands. The man had a wild expression on his face and was tased by a uniformed police officer when he refused to drop the weapon or move out of the cowering motorist's way. Men in black suits came and took him away...the images faded,

"And how do you know that?" Fury's tone was calm but Cisco got the impression he was resisting the urge to strangle him.

"Look GI-Joe," Cisco sighed putting his hands up, "I don't know how I know. I just _know_. Its...complicated." He paused before adding, "I also know that you're currently holding him in a mental hospital even though quite frankly he's sane."

"What," Tony managed to sound catty, "So now you can read minds?" He grinned, "Quick, what's Eyepatch thinking now?"

"That's this is irrelevant," Fury replied stiffly though he sounded interested.

Barry eyed Cisco as if he had a spider on his face; not knowing whether to smash it or let it be, "What else do you see?"

He shrugged, "Bits and pieces. Its not exactly high jacking my brain. But I see some glowing thing being the source of his disappearance and reappearance seventy years later." He grinned sheepishly when he turned to Steve, "Kind of like you when you crashed the plane near the end of WWII...cept this guy wasn't put in cryokinesis."

Steve looked stunned for a moment, and Cisco realized that Natasha hadn't told anyone about his ability. He felt like punching himself in his face and sparing himself the trouble from explaining everything.

"How do you know that?" Sam asked with a baffled expression on his face.

Fortunately, Barry came to Cisco's rescue even though it was apparent that Tony also planed to back him up.

"It's complicated," the speedster admitted, "But...Cisco can kind of...for tell the future. Or at least...one possible future."

"So you're like a fortune teller?" Wanda asked narrowing her eyes.

Cisco sighed and clasped his hands together, "Not exactly. Like Barry said...I can see one possible future in a timeline. Sometimes it is possible to change it...sometimes with...err...side effects." He tried not to look at Barry, "I can also...see where people are, or a part of their past/future if I touch something of theirs..."

He trailed off, not wanting to bring up what he had really seen last night in a dream.

"That's how you knew Clint was going to fall off the building,' Natasha realized before scowling, "And why didn't you say anything."

"Its was kind of hard to when you had Carrie pointing a lance at my throat."

"Back to the discussion," Oliver cut in curtly before turning to glance at Fury, "Get to the point. What do you mean this has happened before?"

The G-I Joe look a like scowled, "We believe there is some...outside force transporting people and things to different time periods...and in your case a different earth. What is causing it...we do not know. It would be in our best interest if you find out what is responsible. Those earthquakes you've been feeling? That's only the beginning. If this anomaly isn't corrected in time...millions—"

"—of people will die," Cisco finished swallowing hard; his nightmare coming back as a fresh memory in his mind, "And our earths will cease to exist."

* * *

Earth 191612 _:_ _Queens_

 _17:00 hours_

* * *

Peter chewed nervously on his bottom lip wondering feverishly if any one had seen him enter his room via fire-escape by crawling on the walls. He was somewhere halfway between full blown panic and full blown fan-boy upon hearing Ned's feverous rambling about Nick Fury appearing in his kitchen and mentioning his other ego's persona by name.

"Hey Pete!"

The voice made Peter jumped straight up into the air like a cat on steroids and cling to the ceiling when he realized that Ned was in his bedroom. His friend immediately started talking a mile a minute apparently not caring that he had just given his friend a heart-attack.

"Oh my God, can you believe that Fury call you out? That he mentioned the Avengers by name? Do you ever wonder why they call themselves the Avengers? I mean the term does mean to take revenge for something bad that happened. So does Fury calling you out mean that you're going to join them? And that Mr. Stark can possibly make a—"

"Ned!" Peter hissed furiously between his teeth as he slowly lowered himself down to the ground. "This is hardly the time." He let go of the ceiling and dropped on all fours before continuing, "Aunt May is going to kill me if I go anywhere near the Avengers again. And why did she let you in here?"

"As Spider-Man or as Peter Parker?" Ned asked slightly dumbfounded; either conveniently forgetting to answer the question or was ignoring it.

"As _both_. You know..." Peter lowered his voice, standing up to his full height and looked around before finishing, "she knows."

Aunt May to say the least was un-pleased about finding out her nephew was the vigilante web head. It took at least three hours of argument and back up from Tony Stark to convince her that he could continue his work—so as long as the latest he remained out on a school night was 2 in the morning. 3 on weekends or vacations. Another interesting, and slightly horrifying side to the discussion was that Aunt May had punched Mr. Stark in the face with a well executed right hook. She knocked him out...and Peter spent ten tense minutes praying that his friend wouldn't wake up and sue them.

He didn't...but Peter digressed.

"I know," Ned sounded a bit hurt as he sat down on Peter's bed, the mattress creaking under his weight, "But that still doesn't mean I can't get any answers."

"Ned..." Peter said warningly as he yanked the mask off his face and pointed it at Ned, "I already told you...mind reading and the ability to foretell the future didn't come with the spider bite."

"Oh come on..." his friend whined, "You got to have at least gotten camo abilities. Or maybe venom stingers like the Black Widow. Or maybe—"

Since Ned found out about the Spider-Man part, Peter had retained the ability to drown out his ramblings at will. Sometimes it worked, and other times it didn't work. At the moment, it was working.

"Look," he held his hand up in the air cutting his friend off, "I'm not going to go searching for trouble. I already got chewed out for taking on Vulture. This is the last thing I need for to happen. I don't want to get involved in anything else unless it has something remotely to do with time travel. That would be cool and a change from muggers and rescuing people from burning buildings."

He said it jokingly and didn't expect anything to happen as result of cracking it. Apparently the universe had other ideas.

There was a muffled clang outside the window and a bright flash of light. Both Peter and Ned shielded their eyes as a warm blue glow enveloped the room. A split second later, Peter heard an earsplitting scream and saw a body falling rapidly from the sky. He shot out webbing as he raced forwards and barely managed to catch the man around the torso. He grunted as he bared his feet against the wall by the window for support and slowly began to pull the man up hoping that he hadn't cracked his head against anything with the sudden stop. Ned scrambled and stuffed the mask back on his friend's face, however in his haste putting it on backwards.

"Um...Ned," Peter muttered, "Can't see."

"Sorry," Ned quickly pulled it around the right way.

After tugging on the man for several minutes, Peter managed to drag him onto the fire-escape where he lay like a dead fish. Ned climbed out behind him and both boys looked down at the stranger. He was dressed in a olive green uniform with short sleeves and his last name—Hudson—stitched onto the front in bright yellow letters. There was an army helmet lying crooked on his head with an Ace of Spades sticking out of its netting, somehow staying on even when he was upside down. His face was young putting him in between sixteen and eighteen years old.

"Is he dead?" Ned whispered peering over his friend's head.

Peter gave him a look before instinctively poking the man in the shoulder with his index finger resolving to ask Karen if there wasn't a response. The stranger's reaction was as if he had been shot. The kid's eyes shot open and he nearly fell flailing off the edge of the building screaming something incoherently. Ned quickly ducked out of sight, leaving Peter to fend for himself.

" _He's awake,_ " Karen spoke suddenly, " _Though I would recommend administering a mild sedative so he cannot harm himself_. _There is one that can be activated with the choice labeled 'sedative'. Would you like me to activate it?_ "

"No Karen," Peter waved her off or more correctly waved off the glowing icons on his statistic screen, "He doesn't need one...I hope."

Apparently, the kid's shock had worn off, since he now stared at Peter with wide eyes. His face was red and he had sweat pouring down his cheeks. Given the limited space between solid ground and open air, he backed himself against the railing that was an arm's length away.

"Where am I?" there was an unmistakable Texas drawl in his words.

"Um...New York?" Peter answered questioningly, wondering if the man _had_ actually hit his head.

The kid looked around slightly baffled before fixing his gaze back on the vigilante, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Er..." Peter decided to avoid answering, "What are _you_ wearing?"

Hudson had the nerve to look offended, "Its my army uniform. I didn't have a say in _what_ it looked like."

"It's a bit out dated don't you think?"

Something finally dawned in the Hudson's eyes and he looked around slightly furious, "Ok Casino, Ralph. Quit messin with my head or I swear to God the next time we go on leave I'll introduce ya'll to the Texas way of greetin. What the hell did you two put in my desert?"

Of course there wasn't response, and Peter was being to feel like he should stick a sedative in the stranger. Clearly he was out of his mind.

"Look...um...Hudson?"

"Its Ace to you kid."

"Um...Ace," Peter held his hands up defensively, trying to ignore the fact that he had been called a 'kid' by a stranger about as old as he was, "Maybe you should come with me to the hospital—"

"What are you blathering about?" Hudson demanded jabbing his finger roughly into superhero's chest, "I ain't sick. One second I was in the fucking jungle slapping at mosquitoes and the next I'm standin on a fire escape with costumed freak."

Peter stared at him blankly, "Did you say jungle?"

"Yeah I said jungle. What have you? Don't you know there's a war going on?"

"A war?"

"Yeah war. What've you been doing? Livin under a rock?"

Peter managed to resist slapping him, "What year is it?"

"1965. Come on. Are you just an illusion, or did a Charlie just shot me and I'm dead?"

" _Peter..._ " Karen's patient tone came over his headset, " _While you've been talking I ran a scan on his facial features_." Peter remained silent trying to process what he had just heard, and judging by the hyperventilating sounds behind him he figured that Ned was to. " _His name is Daniel Hudson Jr. He was a Lieutenant in the US Army in 1960._ "

"What?" Peter muttered softly.

"Who you talking to?" Hudson demanded turning around trying to examine his surroundings, "If this is a dream...its a pretty good one."

" _He disappeared in 1965 during a heavy firefight in the Dong Nai provience. But now..."_

"Hudson?" Peter said calmly, "There's something I have to as—"

But Hudson wasn't listening. Instead he had spotted an commercial aircraft flying low over his head. That was all it took. There was a faint gurgling sound in the kid's throat before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted dead away.

"Well at least I didn't have to stick him with a needle," Peter noted. He turned around and looked at Ned who's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Did this guy just pull a reverse John Conner?" he asked faintly, "Or did that fudge from the cafeteria play a trick on me?"

"If it did," Peter said slowly, "Then it did a swell job playing it on both of us."

"What do we do?" Ned whimpered crouching down to examine the comatose form of Lt. Hudson, "We can't take him to a hospital... You'd know what they will do to him. Its called a straight jacket and a visit to the shrink."

"I know," the vigilante sighed rubbing the side of his face in exasperation, "Karen. Patch me into Mr. Stark. I think he should hear about this."

* * *

 **And a big thank you to all my lovelies who reviewed!**

 **Guest** — **As you can see, Fury was not too pleased. XD**

 **Random Lady** — **Fury is a bastard and Oliver really doesn't like him (so tempted to actually have him strangle Fury but managed to restrain my inner demon on that one).**

 **Guest** — **Sorry dude. I already have the story planned out, _but_ I will admit that sounds like a fascinating idea for a spin-off. **

**Crystal** — **All I can say on this one is that Fury has his ways. He probably has bugs planted _all_ over the tower just to eavesdrop...**

 **Guest** — **Yes I have seen Flash Season 4. Beginning was meh, but now the show is getting better :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Yay! I made room for Spider-Man. Sadly he will not be playing a big part in this, but I did made him make a brief appearance an upcoming chapter as well.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Earth 1: CCPD_

 _18:15_

* * *

Julian impatiently swatted a moth that had alighted itself on the top of the stack of magazines. The 'little bastard' as he began to think of it, flitted away completely unscathed and landed on the top of the chemical rack.

"Fine you little bugger," he growled at it, "Fall in the carborane superacid and see if I care. At least then you'd stop eating my socks."

The moth only fluttered its wings at him and took off. Julian grumbled in disgust and turned his attention back to the data on the most recent murder. Or as Sergeant Mercado was beginning to label, a 'paranormal death'. Though Mercado was by far one of the most superstitious members on the force, Julian did have to give him credit. The recent string of murders _were_ very supernatural in cause. All the victims were from different time periods, mostly modern day people, and the few odd balls that were dressed in army uniforms from seventy years ago. The most recent one was that of an army officer from 1965. Or perhaps it some poor sod that was on his way to a costume party, had gotten lost, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Julian groaned and dragged his hand over the bridge of his nose in an effort to massage the two bags hanging from his eyes. Captain Singh had been increasing the force's shifts and there was a curfew in place as more bodies began to drop. The earthquake days earlier had rattled everyone to the core, but the city was in much better condition than the damage done in Los Angeles. He could still see the news images every time he closed his eyes and it did nothing but add to his sour mood.

"I have some coffee," Mack plopped a half empty coffee carafes on the desk, rattling the glass fishbowl sitting on it. He stepped back and added apologetically,"Its uh...been seeping for about four hours."

Julian poured himself a glass and nearly spat the thick glob back into the cup. Mack was right. It was completely undrinkable. Not wanting to make a scene, Julian forced himself to swallow the mouthful and set his mug back down. Though his lips were puckered he managed to give the other man something he hoped was a close proximity to a smile.

"Thanks mate."

Mack pulled a chair up and sat down. The twenty or so officer, looked even worse than Julian felt. It wouldn't have been surprising if he had grey streaks in his black hair to go along with the dark circles under his eyes.

"Singh wants to know if you found anything yet..." the five-year veteran said in an effort to start a conversation, "Er...that was until he had go to that scheduled news conference."

Julian sighed and leaned back in his chair. He had already forgotten about that. If he listened carefully, he was able to make out the rapid questions and tittering voices of the press in the lobby.

"They're like vultures," he growled, "Anything particular they're bringing up?"

"Well," Mack removed his hat and played with the rim of it, "They've been asking about where the Flash has gone. No one's seen him for days." He looked curiously at Julian, "You know him pretty well. Know anything?"

Shit. Julian made an effort to keep the panic off his face.

"Sorry mate. Not much. I have no clue."

He put on a fake smile. Ferociously, the Brit prayed that he wouldn't ask about the Flash's alter ego: his CSI partner.

 _Bloody hell Allen. I swear to God I'm going to punch you when you get back._

"Huh," Mack scratched his head before looking around with a frown, "How's Barry doing? I heard he's out with the stomach flu."

Was this guy a mind reader? Julian sighed and brushed non-existent lint off his pant leg.

"He's doing better. He's no longer... _disappearing_ into the restroom to throw up. But he still has a fever and shakes and chills."

Mack winced sympathetically, "Ouch. It's been going around. Dillon had it a few weeks ago and had to miss a couple of days at school." He peered curiously over at the case papers.

Julian knew what he was asking, "Promise me you _won't_ tell Mercado."

The officer snorted, "Hell _no_. He's been hiding a bulb of garlic in his pocket since Gary jokingly told him that one of the corpses had _fang_ marks in it's neck. It rotted and stunk up the room so bad that we used up all the air fresheners in the store room. The last thing we need is him convincing Singh to get rid of the cracked mirror in the basement."

The CSI scowled slightly, but shifted the newspaper he had haphazardly slapped on top of the recent case when Mack had entered the room, "Again mate. Not a single word." The police officer nodded solemnly, so Julian decided to continue, "Three bodies have turned up recently in various places around town. Witness describe seeing a bright flash of blue light moments before the body appeared out of midair and landing in front of them from the air. Two of the poor blokes were still alive only to die on impact. Another was already dead, and had to be removed by the fire department since the body was tangled up in some telephone lines."

"So some type of disappearing act?" Mack arched an eyebrow, "Or Meta related." His tone didn't make the statement at all questioning.

Julian couldn't look him in the eye, and felt his stomach churn. Of course the incidents had his first thought turn to the new Metahumans from the Flashpoint time shift. Perhaps one of them had the ability to teleport anyone of anything they touched, including themselves. But nothing added up. None of the corpses had any marks on them and found fingerprints placed in AFIS came up with matches to people who had been no where near the victims or had absolutely no connections to them what-so-ever. The victim's themselves also appeared to not exist, as their prints did not match up to anything in the database.

Oddly enough, one of the victim's DNA matched up with a living person. It was rather eerie seeing the two look-a-likes; looking so similar they could've been identical twins. But they weren't and the living doppelganger lived somewhere in France and had not even traveled to the U.S.

"It's hard to say at this point," Julian admitted, "To be honest I have absolutely no idea."

"So in other words we are in the dark at this point?"

"Unfortunately."

Mack sighed heavily, "This city keeps getting stranger and stranger. Sooner or later I wouldn't be surprised if half the city went mad." He shuttled in his seat again as if uncomfortable, "Um. Also...Singh wants you to make a statement."

Julian didn't want to shoot the messenger, though he was tempted to strangle him,"Could you have told me this earlier?" he snapped, tugging on his coat, "You're making me look like Allen!"

"Sorry..." Mack muttered apologetically.

Both men hurried to reach the press conference, not noticing as another minor earthquake shook the room enough to rattle the vials in their shelves. Nor did they notice as various flashes of bright blue light lit up the sky above the city.

* * *

 _Location: Space_

 _Time: Unknown_

* * *

Nate didn't think posting a guard on a well armed time-ship was necessary. For one, it was in cloak mode, and second they were no where near any hostile planets with alien species that were _keen_ to kidnapping humans and sticking them upon their ship unconscious—and subjected to a fake life/reality machine.

But no one said no to the captain. Especially someone who was previous trained by the League of Assassins.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy regarding his cremates most of which were repairing their gear, napping, or training. Even feeding Mick's pet rat would've been more entertaining than watching the stars in the distance twinkle merrily, and wondering if something was going to leap out from behind the planet to eat them. Sara had strictly told Gideon to turn off the virtual reality games to prevent any distractions. Still, he couldn't complain _too_ much. The view outside the windscreen was breathtaking, and he was able to make out more stars than he would be able to see while in the city.

However, it didn't prevent him from complaining.

"Gideon..." he called out, "What's the score between the Jays and the Diamonds?"

He twirled the captain's seat around and lowered it up and down a couple of times like a kid, before jiggling the joystick around; halfheartedly making shooting noises with his mouth. "Pew, pew..." Apparently the serum didn't give him to blow up space junk with his mind.

" _I'm sorry Dr. Haywood, Ms. Lance has prevented me from even mentioning sports to you_."

"Oh come on," Nate sat up indignantly, "Just because I hit Babe Ruth's baseball and busted the ceiling light—"

" _I know you said it was an accident,_ " Gideon replied cheerfully, "A _nd if it counts as anything, I believe you. After all you cannot determine at what angle the ball would go unless you received a doctorate in mathematics."_

"Math wasn't my strongest subject," the historian muttered gloomily, "Nor was science."

He leaned back and started flicking a piece of leather that had frayed away from the arm rest. It flipped back and forth and eventually loosened; dropping to the ground. Nate bent down to pick it up and nearly missed seeing a bright flash of blue light and the object that flew past the front of the ship. The blast radius coming off it was powerful enough to send the Waverider listing to the starboard side with a groan. Nate yelped and tumbled out of the chair. His arm shot out and he managed to grab a hold of the armrest crushing it under his grip.

Fight or flight mode had taken over and he had 'steeled up' the second he went airborne. But that also meant—

"Oh sh—" the words were cut off when a loud explosion happened somewhere behind them as a second, much smaller and lighter craft sped after the first one. Three more followed after it.

" _I am detecting several foreign craft firing upon each other,_ " Gideon spoke; her normally level voice sounding slightly strained, " _The larger of the group is taking on critical damage_."

"Gideon," Nate grunted as the metal covering his skin receded leaving him vulnerable to Sara's fists when she found out what he had done to her chair, "...straighten...the ship... _please_."

He scrambled frantically for a handhold without trying to break anything else or his back; there was now a sheer drop behind him as the ship now angled to about eighty degrees.

There was muffled rumbling noise as the blasters below the cargo bay powered up on the side that was titling. Slowly but surely, Gideon leveled the ship out and emitted a three alarm chime when she had completed her task.

"Shall I alert the rest of the crew Dr. Haywood?" she asked.

Nate having tumbled to the ground when the ship, non-to-gently straightened out, hooked both his arms on the damaged arm rest and pulled himself up; air blasting out of his mouth from the effort, "I don't think that's necessary," he grunted giving up and lying on the ground with arms spread out, "Because they're going to be coming through the door in three...two..."

He pointed his index finger at the sliding doors just as they opened. Sara stormed in followed by Nick and Ray. The rest of the crew was away gathering supplies from earth, leaving only the four of them behind on the ship. Mick had his pet rat sitting on his shoulder, nibbling contently at a piece of banana.

"What the hell Metal man," the man grunted in his usual deep and slightly nasal voice, "You woke me from my nap. I hate getting woken from my naps."

He punched his fist into his palm for emphasis. Nate swallowed hard and looked over at Sara whose expression seemed to be determining what level of pain she was going to inflict on him. Instinctively, he moved to cover up the crumpled handhold in the chair arm rest.

"What...did...you...do?" even her voice threw daggers at him even though the real ones remained strapped to her tigh.

"Nothing," he admitted truthfully, "I didn't touch _anything,_ " he said less truthfully.

" _Sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid that craft is sustaining critical damage. I am detecting several life-forms aboard, and if we do not act fast, I am afraid that they will perish."_

"So what," Mick growled picking his pet rat off his shoulder and setting it down on the middle counsel where Gideon's head usually appeared, "They're aliens. I don't like aliens except for Skirt."

Ray stared at him in shock, "Are you serious? I admit...I'm never going to watch _Alien_ again...but we should help them. Might even score us some points with another race and maybe prevent them from invading earth at anytime in the future."

Sara glared at him, "Even though I would agree with Mick following the Dominator abduction, I'm going to have to agree with Gideon...and _you_ on this one. We help them...and then we get out." She stalked over to the pilot chair before turning around and adding, "And Mick...get that _thing_ off the computer. If he poops on it, I'm going to bring the rat poison out of storage."

"Alright. No need to be nasty Blondie," Mick grunted, picking the rat up and slipping it into Ray's hand, "Here Haircut. Hold on to Chester for me till I sit down will ya?"

Ray gulped slightly, and held the rat out at arm's length as he sat down in the chair. When Mick settled into his own seat, Palmer quickly stuck Chester on his owner's lap and retreated; wiping his hands on his pants. Sara sat down and noticed what happened to her arm rest. Turning around, she spotted Nate looking down at his shoe's; his face having gone as white as a ghost.

"We'll talk later," her voice was low and threatening, before she faced forward's again activating the control console.

Nate heard Ray leaning over to whisper into his ear, "You do realize that mean's she going to kick your ass right?"

"Don't remind me," he moaned burying his head into his hands.

Sara yanked the throttle back causing the Wave Rider to shoot forwards, leaving behind a plum of smoke and Nate's stomach. His head snapped back and slammed into the the neck rest as he watched the speedometer on his arm rest jump from the speed of sound to just below light speed. Nate's time on the time ship had cured him of any sickness post-time jumping, but not of the queasiness that always struck anytime they past 340.9 m/s. He gritted his teeth as the ship bounced up and down roughly as Sara skillfully navigated over asteroids and space junk. The movement of the Wave Rider unpleasently reminded him of the pin-ball game he used to play as a kid; with the ship being the pin-ball and the meteoroids being the paddles.

"S—aaaa—rraaaa," he managed to speak past his chattering teeth as they clanked together, "IIIIIII—hhhooopppeee—yyyou kkknow whhaatt youuu are dooing."

"Shut up Nate, otherwise I'm pulling over and you drive," she snapped but he could hear the strain in her voice, "Gideon. Status?"

" _We are approaching the ships. Perhaps we shall deploy the energy cannon once we are in range._ "

"No. Give them a warning shot. If they don't back off..."she paused before ordering, "Keep the Waverider in stealth mode and don't fire until I say so. They won't know we are here, so we should use the element of surprise while we have it."

There was a faint humming noise, as Gideon complied.

"So...you think we can meet Captain Kirk after this is over?" Ray asked jokingly. He turned grey when Sara turned her attention off controlling the ship; long enough to glower at him.

"Mick," she said turning forwards again.

"Yes?" the man grunted.

"Make sure these two stay quiet. This isn't Star Trek and I won't be able to concentrate if they start babbling like Cisco."

"With pleasure," Mick smirked and glanced at them smugly, "They say duct-tape has thousand uses. In you two bozos cases...a hundred and four."

Nate and Ray shared a look pertaining to the man's horrible algebra skills but wisely stayed quiet. But it didn't stop them from grinning like a bunch of kids.

They drew closer and were flying over the alien crafts. Or UFO's, Nate supposed they should call them that, despite knowing 'exactly' what they were looking at. The four smaller craft looked very similar to Oliver Queen's arrowheads. They were grayish-red and were bristling with laser guns that kept firing upon the larger ship which was obviously fleeing from them. The target ship was much larger, however still small compared to the Waverider. Its coloration must have been light blue and orange at some point, before having its paint and weapons shot off. It had the appearance of a bulky bird of prey with two wind turbines stuck on its wings to provide lift and speed. The turbines were broken and smoke billowed from the ship's port side and under its belly; making the craft appear to be limping through the air. It still managed to dodge many of the blasts from its pursuers but was slowing down.

How smoke was billowing off the space ship despite oxygen being near non-existent in space was beyond Nate's comprehension. At the alien crafts indicated they had seen them. Stealth mode had its advantages.

Sara made the Waverider draw closer until they were right on top of one of the enemy craft. Nate strained his neck to look inside the cockpit, hoping to catch a glace of the alien pilot. To his disappointed the canopy was tinted, or was purposely darkened to prevent anyone from seeing inside. The Waverider flew forwards silently until they were right next to the bigger ship. Its windows were see through, but they still couldn't see inside since they were flying behind the blind side of the ship.

Nate knew why Sara was taking such precaution. Despite being in stealth mode, the Waverider could easily be spotted if it brushed against anything. The clocking ability also had a bad habit of rippling like waves if it was buffeted by anything as light as a pebble or as big as a cannonball. They also did not have a clue if whether this was a clever trick enticing them into a trap.

But it was soon easy to see that the ship was really in trouble. Another laser blast shot out from behind them and further crippled the ship. With a groan, the Alien craft tilted further to the side, and Nate was alarmed to see flame break out from one of the smoking wings. His heart sunk knowing that the passengers and pilot were going to be in serious trouble if they didn't do anything soon.

"Captain..." he asked weakly, "Permission to give them hell?"

A grin slowly slid from end of Sara's face to the other end, "Gideon. Let them see what its like to go up against a twenty second century time ship."

She drew back until she was behind the enemy ships and turned the stealth mode off. Rocketing low over the smaller crafts, she opened up the blasting guns mounted on the sides of the Waverider and fired. Two ships exploded; pieces cantering all over the place and adding more space junk to the mix. Sara ceased firing, stopping just short of the weakened craft. She drew up close and wagged her wings in confirmation of being 'friendlies'. They still couldn't make out the passengers, but it was easy to sense that they were probably standing in the cockpit gawking at them.

"Gideon, deploy the tow line. Lets get them out of here and leave them stranded on some sort of planet where they can repair and hopefully breath," she said wincing as the enemy got over their initial shock and started firing at them.

It was a honestly terrifying prospect to think that only a few inches of titanium were preventing them from getting fried. Sparks flew from the lights overhead as the ship groaned slightly. An alarm went off allowing them to know that their guns had been damaged.

The ship rattled as its starboard side was struck by another laser blast and made the entire cabin shake. Sara increased the throttle and the ship jerked forwards. As it picked up speed, they drew nearer to an asteroid that would have easily dwarfed the Empire State Building.

"Uh...Sara?" Ray asked with a concerned expression on his face.

The space rock drew closer. Its was close enough to make out every cranny and hole embedded into the side of the immense rock. If they crashed into it at the speed that they were going, there would only be a smear mark left.

"SARA!" Nate didn't even bother masking the panic in his voice.

At the last possible minute, Sara jerked the ship to the side causing the rock to pass by them by mere inches. There was someone screaming loudly as the Waverider scraped the sides of the space rock, the rescued ship bouncing behind them like a child's toy. It quivered as its belly scrapped the side of the asteroid, sending up a shower of sparks; threatening to spin out of control. Nate realized that the screaming came from him and he clamped down on his tongue hard enough to make his mouth fill with blood.

His pants felt slightly damp and he clenched his legs tightly together in a last ditched effort to prevent anyone from seeing he had soiled himself. However, when he glanced over at his friends, he could see that Ray was in very similar situation. He could've sworn he heard his friend mutter, "I'm too young to die."

Mick didn't even look fazed, in fact his hands were up in the air and he was grinning as if he were on a ride at Disney Land. Sara seemed practically immune, though her teeth were gritted from the effort of keeping her sanity in hand.

The shaking stopped and Sara tilted the ship further to the side before whipping the ship in a three hundred and sixty degree angle and traveling back the way they had come. Sara pressed the trigger handle and opened fire as she past over the enemy; sending the damage alarm into overdrive. One shot intercepted another laser shot from the nearest UFO, both blasts blowing up and causing an enormous smoke cloud.

Taking advantage of the cover, Sara dived into the smoke and activated the cloaking mechanism before exiting. She was panting but managed to keep her voice level.

"Gideon. Status report."

" _I'm afraid that both ships have taken on serious damage. We will only be able to remained cloaked for only a few more moments as the device was damaged in the initial firefight."_

 _"_ How long till we get to earth?" Sara asked.

"Wait...what!?" Nate stared at her slightly shocked, "Are you crazy? The last thing we need is for them to start invading...again."

"You have a better idea?" she snapped.

" _May I make a suggestion?_ " Gideon asked calmly, " _I calculate a ninety eight percent chance that if we are to draw them to a remote location, I will be able to scramble their outgoing messages for a backup fleet._ "

"Then what is the most remote location on earth," Ray asked, "Please don't say the Bermuda Triangle..."

" _That would be an excellent place to..."_

 _"_ No serious. Anything but the Bermuda Triangle. Do you know how many nut jobs go there to see if UFO's do exist? Plus Argus gave us an absolutely no fly zone in _any_ of those areas."

There was a muffled groan as another blast struck them. Sara sat back looking thoughtful.

"Gideon. Can any of the ships survive re-entry?"

" _Yes Ms. Lance. Though I would not recommend_ —"

"If it can be done, then do it," Sara commanded leaning forwards, "Boys. Hold onto your hats. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

Before Nate could gather up the courage to ask what she meant, she had pressed the Waverider into a steep swan dive. As they rocketed towards the atmosphere of the blue planet, Nate felt his body start floating and pressing against his safety belt. Panic set in and he grabbed onto the nearest thing in an effort to feel anchored—which was his arm rests. His stomach seemed to go up to his throat, while his liver went into his knees. Re-entering earth's atmosphere at the speed they were going felt like going of Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel; at any time they and their new cargo could break up and be destroyed. Flames started to glow and the front of the Wave Rider turned bright red.

"HOLY SH—"

He didn't even know who had started to say exactly what he was thinking before getting cut off by another jarring blast from the enemy. Nick still had his hands up in the air and was cheering, while Ray and Nate scrambled in their seats; pulling their legs up in a fruitless effort to get as far away from the rapidly approaching planet as possible. Gideon did help matters, by counting down the distance of them becoming a smear mark on the surface of the earth.

" _24069.14_ _meters. 18288 meters._ "

Nate shakily unclenched the fingers of his right hand in order to pry his eyes open. The continents which used to look like large version of what was seen drawn in kindergarten classrooms, took on the appearance of giant jigsaw puzzles of the different countries.

" _1524 meters_."

The blue of the ocean shimmered brightly off to the side as they drew nearer and nearer to where Arizona was located.

" _304.8 meters._ "

Nate could make out the different sand formations as Sara gradually picked the Waverider's nose up slightly, ever so slightly but continued to drop towards the ground.

" _15.24 meters_."

Sara suddenly straightened the Wave Rider out so it was flying level, but continued flying it at just below its top speed. Arching through the canyon, she weaved in between natural rock formations dodging potshots. One of the shots, hit the canyon wall exploding millions of tons of rock and dust everywhere. Nate yelled and jumped instinctively.

"You're going to really piss off the park service," he pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure they won't be pissed when they find out aliens are responsible," Sara gritted.

She barrel rolled to the side barely missing another shot. Engines screaming she rocketed towards a tower of water falls. Nate swallowed hard while Gideon temporary popped up a screen identifying the cascade as the Grand Falls. With its muddy coloration that made it was hard to determine how large they really were and if they ended up crashing into it, having anybody have any hope of finding their bodies...

"Lets give this one more shot," Sara muttered.

The falls drew closer, and closer. Even through the screaming of the engine, Nate could hear the roaring of the millions of cubic gallons of water as it spilled over the rocks until the brown pool below. He squeaked in alarm as they drew even closer than they had with the asteroid. Just before it seemed that they were going to hit it, Sara wrenched the control back sending them in a ninety degree angle into the air. For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then two explosions sounded off in unison behind them, letting them know that she had succeeded in destroying both of the ships.

As soon as they had cleared the falls Sara turned the ship around, and allowed it to hover several feet over the roaring water's brink. The orange and blue ship's belly trailed gently in the water, allowing a small ripples to part the falls; exposing the smooth and sandy riverbed below.

Nate watched the orange clouds billow up from the side of the cliff below them, "That was...creative. Though I'm pretty sure you just ticked off several Native American tribes by blowing up a sacred monument to them."

"Shut up," but Sara sounded slightly pleased with her success.

She angled the Waverider to the right and wrestled with the controls as the ship began to sway drunkingly.

" _Damage to the ship has become critical. I recommend setting down immdietly,_ " Gideon said.

Nate would have liked to say that they landed gracefully. Instead they landed in way that would've given him a heart-attack had he not experienced hard landings previously. They hadn't even traveled ten miles before the Wave Rider groaned and tilted down. Sara strained back on the toggle and barely had time to let the landing gear down. It promptly became caught on a rock, sending the time ship skip hopping across the desert floor,like a round pebble on the surface of a smooth lake. It traveled about fifty meters, bouncing occasionally, and sending up plums of smoke, rocks, and dust.

The Waverider moaned as it spun around until it was facing the rescued ship face to face. By some miracle it hadn't been squashed when the larger ship ran over it; perhaps the difference in height had something to do with it. The safety line was still attached like a silver snake that whipped around as they continued to skid across the ground. Eventually they came to an abrupt stop against a towering rock formation that created a half formed cave in a cliff face. A quick glance out the window confirmed that if anyone spotted the ten foot deep by fifty across ditch, they'd know something had crashed landed.

"Ugh," some how Nate managed to pry his forehead off his knee, "Next time we go up against aliens...how about a big...fat...no."

The safety belts released, sending him tumbling against the metal surface. He wanted to kiss it, but knew he'd look like an idiot. Instead, he stood up and cleared his throat.

"So now what?"

"We get them off the safety line," Sara spoke causally strolling over to the Captain's quarters and picking up one of her daggers, which she slipped into her sleeve, "And tell them to get the hell off my planet."

"And hope that they're grateful..." Ray muttered.

A small explosion followed by a string of curses which sounded too human, resounded from outside the ship.

"You two. Stay behind and try to contact the others. Nate, you're with me."

"Why does it have to be me?" he moaned.

Sara crept towards the cargo bay, and pressed the release button to lower the doors. With a hiss they retracted down, sending sand into Nate's eyes and hair. He coughed, and took a step down before leaping back in alarm as a rattle snake slithered across the metal. Sara unperturbed, picked up the snake by the back of its head and tossed it carelessly to the side; the reptile hissed at her angrily before disappearing behind a dune.

"Did I mention how much I hate snakes?" Nate said innocently when she turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

She offered him a rare smile, "About a hundred thousand times."

Sara advanced forward, clutching the knife tightly behind her back. Nate muttered something before tentatively following her, scanning the sand anxiously for anything the resembled reptile. A hard elbow to his side, made him jump and turn to his friend.

"What was that—"

She immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, hard enough to make his lips burn. Silently, she pointed to the area in front of them. Nate turned his head and was startled to see a...person?

The man—Nate decided he looked too human to be called an alien—had his back to them. He wore a maroon coat that went past his knees, and had wavy brownish red hair. Given the hundred degree temperature, it was amazing he was not panting from the heat.

"Damn it," the man cursed and kicked the side of the ship, "Paint job is screwed, and the flying mechanism is ruined."

Sara somehow managed to sneak up behind him and gently pressed the end of her baton into the back of his neck.

"Either you turn around slowly, or I take your head off. And drop the ray guns hanging on your sides."

The man stiffened but did not turn around or obey what she had ordered. Very slowly, he started moving to grab his weapons.

"I said drop it," Sara hissed, abruptly reaching under his coat, yanking the guns from the belt, and tossing them to Nate. He gulped and fumbled with the guns for a moment before managing to still his hands long enough to set them on the ground next to him. His hands still shook, and he held them behind him to hide them. Standing this close to an human-like alien made him nervous.

"I wouldn't have done that if I were you," the man muttered.

Somewhere behind the ship, a red dot suddenly focused on Sara forehead. She immediately drew her dagger out and pressed it against the man's throat. He visibly gulped. Though he was nearly a foot taller than her, she somehow managed to succeed in nearly strangling him. Carefully, she maneuvered his body so it acted as a shield.

"Tell them to stand down, or I slit your throat."

"You know, women aren't normally like this," the man choked, "And they normally don't drive spaceships that lousy."

Nate face-palmed knowing that the man had just dug a deeper hole for himself.

"Tell them to stand down," Sara snarled, pressing the knife tighter, "And I will consider forgetting what was just said."

For a moment nothing happened. Nate took several deep breaths and prepared to steel up; hoping that he would have enough time to cover Sara if things went south.

To his relief, the man held his hand up and said, "Guys. Stand down. I'm losing oxygen here."

An inhuman sounding snarl resounded from the ship, but the red dot disappeared. Nate let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, wondering why Sara had asked him to tag along. It seemed like she had the situation handled.

"Now you are going to tell me," Sara released her prisoner. He spun around and glared at her, a thin line of blood standing out against his neck, "Why the hell you brought aliens to my front doorstep."

" _Your_ doorstep?" the man cocked an eyebrow as he gingerly felt his throat, "Since when is a planet in control of a—"

He cut himself off, perhaps realizing that the next words out of his mouth would leave him with a dagger sticking out of his chest. Sara gave him the ultimate stinking eye.

"Since earth has had an alien invasion that nearly killed half the planet with a bomb. Now you are going to have a chance to repair your ship, but after that I want you out of here"

The man stood there looking slightly stunned, "This is Terran?"

"What?"

"Terran," Nate interjected, "Latin for earth. Usually used in science fiction terms to describe our..." He broke off when Sara slowly turned to glare at him, "I'll shut up now."

"Thank you professor Tin-head," she said sarcastically, "I know what the term means." She turned back to the alien, "What I can't figure out, is how this...idiot—"

"Hey!" the man protested.

"—knows about this planet and seems to know how to speak English so well. And tell the truth. I'll know if you're lying."

The man turned his head slightly and gave Nate a look, ' _Is she serious_?"

Nate nodded solemnly and moved a few inches backwards in case things became messy. He knew that Sara was very _unlikely_ to disembowel the stranger, but did not want to take any chances.

"Alright. Fine. You get three questions."

Sara growled and pressed the knife against his throat again, "Then again, you can ask as many as you like..."

"You have a name?" she asked, " _Not_ a code name."

"Er...Peter?"

"You an alien?"

"Only half."

The knife loosened slightly.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"I'm pretty sure you brought me here."

Nate snorted and was promptly hit in the arm by a rock.

"No. I mean you were not here before. Where did you come from?"

"Earth X?" Peter asked innocently.

Sara released him suddenly, sending him sprawling to the ground. He gasped and held his throat again perhaps thinking she had taken out his wind-pipe, "What the hell is your problem lady?" Indignantly, he stood up and dusted himself off.

She ignored him and turned to Nate, "Anything you'd like to tell me?"

"What?" he asked slightly irritated, "I didn't see _anything_. Cept' for a bright flash of light which could've been him dropping out of light speed in his Millennium Falcon."

"Finally someone who speaks and understands things like I do," Peter said. He paled when Sara glared at him, "Shutting up now."

"Bright flash of light?" Sara asked calmly.

"I don't know," Nate suddenly felt slightly frustrated, "Ask Gideon."

"What do we do with him?" she turned and pointed at Peter who was pretending not to listen to what they were saying. He had somehow managed to acquire his weapons back, but seeing that they were not going to kill him, decided to holster them instead.

"Help him I guess?" Nate shrugged, "Jax is going to have a field day repairing his ship...and pissed when he repairs ours."

"Is he human?" Peter asked stalking over to his ship and running his hand gently against the dented metal, "I would think this would be too complicated...no offense."

Sara smirked, "He's repaired our ship several times. It is more complicated than your hunk of junk."

"How so?" Peter asked crossly.

She flipped her pony tail to the back of her neck as she disappeared back into the belly of the Wave Rider, "Its a Time Ship."

Peter stared after her for a moment before asking Nate, "Did she just say what I just heard?"

"Yep."

The man grinned, "So you guys fly through time and fix things, but end up screwing them up most of the time?"

"Yep."

"I think this is a start of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

 **Gah. So...many...words (insert sound of head banging). I hope you guys liked the Guardians of the Galaxy cameo, because I may or may not write another chapter with them in it. This was originally supposed to be only an Avengers/Arrowverse crossover, but eh...I decided to expand my borders. This was difficult. Please do not kill me if I did not write the characters accordingly. I watch LOF but am not as interested in it as the other shows and movies.**

 **Please review!**

 **~Sil**


	22. Chapter 22

**Enjoy**

 **And yay! First chapter of the new year!**

* * *

Earth 191612 _:_ _Avengers Tower_

 _9:20 hours_

* * *

"Are you absolutely certain about this?" Barry asked as Cisco attached the safety cable to the harness around his waist, "Because if this goes wrong, Iris is going to kill you."

"Nah," Cisco crinkled up his forehead as he made some last minute adjustments to the equipment, "Joe might. Which means, I expect you to come back alive before the bullet hits me."

"Ha, ha."

Tony for his credit, was too busy strapping down everything that was not anchored to the ground that he did not provide one of his trademark snarks. He yanked out a piece of duct tape that would have successfully taped a side mirror back on a car, and dubiously looked at its grey surface. He quickly patched a hole in the wall before using the rest of it to tape a paperweight of the Empire state building to the desk. His right hand was encased in one of his armor's guantlets, as if he was preparing to punch anything dangerous that came through the wormhole.

"Duck tape has many uses," he commented as it was enough to cover up that he had been listening, "Including putting cars, pieces of my armor, and the coffee mug back together. Do you really think it will be able to withstand a wormhole?"

He snapped out a roll of tape as if to make a point. Barry flinched upon hearing the noise. All his senses were in overdrive. He could already feel the speed-force crackling through his veins. It was all he could take and had to resist tapping his foot impatiently upon the floor. He could already feel something inside him screaming to _run_ , _run_ , and get back home.

Cisco made a point of ignoring the sarcasm, "Did you have to bring a desk in the gym? Because in about fifty two seconds, it might be kindling."

"Have you done this before?" Tony grumbled tossing the tape to the side, and wiping his hands on his pants, "Because the safety harness isn't giving me much confidence."

Cisco bristled, "The wormhole will be controlled. I promise _not_ to punch a giant hole into the fabric of the universe...that will end up destroying it."

Barry gave his friend a sideways glance before shifting his position into a fencer's stance; a last ditch effort to stretch his legs out. He was growing tired of their bickering, it honestly made him wish for the times Cisco and Harry would go at it. He sighed, hoping to send a signal that he wished for them to stop.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Tony rolled his eyes.

"Could you at least act excited? With your attitude, I'd would have though you'd be shitting kittens at this point."

"I'm not entirely fond of wormholes Goggles—"

"Would you two knock it off?" Barry sighed crossing his arms and straightening up from his awkward position, "You're even worse than Officer MacDonell and Delenger fighting over the last piece of pizza in the break room."

He shifted slightly and rubbed his hand nervously his side as he fingered the red material. His suit would protect him from the initial shock of entering the wormhole, and would prevent his clothing and more importantly _himself_ from catching fire. Despite the wormhole having a fifty/fifty chance of releasing dark matter into the tower, Cisco had secretly taken scans with a makeshift meta-human detector he had built. They did not really need to repeat another 'Star Labs' fallout.

"Don't worry," he had assured the speedster, "None of them have the gene that will give them abilities when exposed to it. They might experience headaches, but there will be no after effects."

Now, looking at the space where the wormhole would be opened, Barry was being to have second thoughts. All they had to fight off anything that could come through was a table, a slightly leaky basketball, a defrosted super-solider from WWII and a genius who only bothered to bring a handheld skeleton repulsor in with them.

"You sure that the doors are secure?" he asked with what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

"Please," Tony snorted, and picked up a tennis ball off the ground. He tossed it and hit the side door with a resounding clang, "Not even a _tank_ would knock them down. They're airtight, waterproof, shatterproof, and acid-proof. How much more secure do you think you can get?"

 _Secure enough to hold back a telepathic ape?_ Barry thought humorlessly.

Judging by Cisco's knowing smirk, his friend obviously had a clue about what he was thinking. Resisting sticking his tongue out out at him, Barry grumbled as he pulled his mask down over his face. The rest of the team had cleared out accept for Steve who was regarding the entire situation silently. He fingered the safety line that was attached to a pulley system. By the look on his face, it was obvious the Captain was not approving of what was about to happen.

However, Barry would gladly take his facial expression over the green archer's _any_ day. Upon discovering what the three of them had in mind, his face had taken on the features of a man who had drank pure lemon juice.

At least Tony had enough sense to send Oliver to deal with some kid who had called him while Fury was still talking to them. By the high pitched tone's of the boy's voice, Barry guessed he was very young and that the situation was dire enough that he talked as rapidly as a speedster. Since...Ollie did not give off exactly the 'kid-friendly' vibe, Kara had gone with him, in addition to some guy named Happy who apparently was Tony's head of security. Speaking of which...

 _Whoever that Fury guy was_ , the speedster thought as Cisco held his hands up, _h_ _ow the hell did he even sneak off without any of us noticing?_

The worm hole opened slowly, almost grudgingly. Pulsating blue light filled the room and the faint smell of something made shivers tingle up and down Barry's spine. It rank heavily of rusted iron; bringing back bad memories of the tunnel. But the memory soon faded away, as the speedster gathered up his courage and dashed into the hole.

Behind him, he could hear the sound of the line screaming as it unraveled to keep him attached safely to the earth. His feet thudded dully against the bright blue 'road', path...whatever...and he could smell ozone as the lightning crackled off him.

 _Keep it slow Bar_ e, he remembered, reducing his speed by a fraction, _Don't burn the line out before you've even reached_ —

His distraction was a costly one, and he went out the side of the portal's path. He came face to face with a bald man in a wheel chair who looked up from his book slightly startled. His eyes though kindly, went from shock to something close to questioning. In the window behind him lay a large yard with a rot-iron fence in the far distance. Barry could not entirely blame him. It was not every day someone randomly appeared in your library wearing a Cosplay costume and a safety harness.

"Err...sorry!? Wrong room." the speedster apologized and managed to tumble back into the wormhole before it closed. As it did, he felt something brush gently against his consciousness, words...' _young man..',_ but he managed to shake it off and thought nothing of it. He continued running down the tunnel, taking care to avoid the sides. The last thing he wanted was to end up on a earth made entirely of acidic water or anything else of that particular nature.

" _Barry_?" Cisco's voice crackled with static in his ear. The comm link was a shaky one, and it was only because of his friend's ability that they were able to communicate in the wormhole. " _What the hell happened? You disappeared off the map for a second."_

"Sorry dude," Barry muttered apologetically, "Lost train of thought and took a spill."

He could hear his friend grumble even through the break-up of sound, " _You're lucky I was able to pull you back. You owe me twenty bottles of Advil when we're through this_."

Barry tried coming up with a clever comeback. He would have to, had he not slammed into what felt like a brick wall.

It was amazing that the others did not hear the sound he made; he hit it hard enough to feel his eyeballs rattle in their sockets. Frantically, he scrambled to grab onto the safety line as he dizzily wobbled off the path and free fell. His arms flailed around and his surroundings rushed past him. He managed to wrap his right arm around the line in a last ditch effort to secure himself on the safety line.

Steve must have felt him falling as the line suddenly snapped to a stop. He heard the bone in his arm crack as the line twisted once around his arm and tightened as the force of gravity was cut off. Multiple fireworks shot off behind his eyelids as the speedster bouncing up and down for a couple of moments. Barry could feel his heart threatening to burst out of his chest, and his breath came out rapidly as he struggled to allow the adrenaline to subside. Red hot pain licked its way up his arm and into his shoulder.

Below him, a portal opened up exposing a landscape dotted in lava and volcanoes; illuminating his face in red light and unbearable heat. His face felt as if it was burning, and every breath he took felt as if he was inhaling fire.

Then something large rose out of the hole in the fabric of time. He yelped and managed to bring his legs up to his chest before the monster's claws snapped shut in the space they had previously occupied. The horns on its head were absolutely enormous; spanning the length of a pick-up truck. It skin was freckled with half hardened lava that hissed as it came into contact with the cooler air.

The creature rumbled, rattling Barry's bones with the sound before it sank back down into the depths of whatever world it occupied. The portal closed, but not before the speedster caught a glimpse of its glowing yellow eyes, full of malice and hate.

"Ba..krrr, w-que... " Cisco's voice echoed in and out of the static before dying away completely.

Barry grunted and struggled to climb up the rope back onto the path that his friend has set for him. His right arm hung limply at his side; it was broken from the sudden stop and it took all his effort to keep from screaming. He inhaled deeply before twanging the rope, once. In the gym, Steve eyed the quivering line and looked at Cisco.

"You think he's okay?"

"Can I keep his backpack if he doesn't come back?" Tony asked, before adding when the solider turned to glare at him, "Just a suggestion. His backpack is awesome."

"He's fine," Cisco pouted through the sweat that had pooled on his face. He waved his hand towards them,"He probably tripped again. Just...bring him in...slowly."

Barry let out a sigh of relief as the rope steadily brought him up. He managed to hook his right leg onto the pulsating blue path and brace himself up, making sure to slap the wire twice to tell Steve to stop reeling him in. In order to prevent himself from slipping through the tunnel again, he vibrated his molecules to maintain a grip. The effort increased the pain in his arm, and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out.

Only then did he turn to see what he had hit.

It was hard to measure time in the wormhole, let alone what occupied the space around it and what it looked like. But he could see in great clarity a 'window' into Oliver's headquarters. Felicity sat at the table speaking to someone beyond the opening that Barry could see. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was disheveled.

Even worse, she did not give any indication that she saw Barry.

"Its been... _two_ weeks. Almost...two weeks. What the hell do you think we're doing?"

Something trickled down Barry's nose, but he ignored it even though he tasted copper tang of blood in his mouth.

"Not getting any sleep," another woman's voice, oddly familiar to the speedster's ears, "I'll keep watch. The entire team is spent. Since Oliver disappeared the crime rate's gone up. And last I heard, two metahumans attacked Central City..."

"So you see why I haven't slept," Felicity cried standing up abruptly and pacing around the three computers, "We need to bring them back. You think...Oliver...or Barry would quit this easily?"

"I'm not saying to _quit_ ," annoyance had crept into Jane Doe's voice, "I'm saying to get a few hours of rest."

"Felicity!" Barry slapped the hard surface as hard as he could with his left hand, ignoring the pain of bruised knuckles. The sensation of striking the smooth surface felt rather unpleasant,similar to touching moist moss on a rock, "We're alive. We're just stuck...on another earth."

No reaction. He hit the 'mirror' harder, and still did not even get a head turn. Barry frowned in frustration before shouting something that sounded watery and dull to his ears. Felicity's head jerked up suddenly and for a moment, Barry thought she had heard him. His heart leapt, and then sank when Diggle entered the room from behind him.

"I take over," the man said wearily, "Curtis and Rene are going out into the field. Apparently some drug boss believes that the docks are his since the Green Arrow vanished."

"We'll get him back Dig," Felicity slumped deep into her chair, "I swear to God I am going to slap him in the face. What about you?", she asked addressing the person who was out of Barry's line of vision.

"Kick him in the balls so that he'll need to use a crutch for a week."

"You said that the first time you met him, you know right?"

"I keep my promises."

"Damn it," the speedster cursed and slid his hand down slowly. He wiped his nose crossly only to have it drip again.

He wanted to sink to the ground and sit, but risking falling into space and time, he settled on kicking the wall crossly. It produced an audible ringing sound that made the mirror ripple with distortion. For a moment, everything appeared to stand still on Team Arrow's side of the mirror.

Still not even so much as a flinch from the other side.

Barry sighed, the sound echoed eerily through the time tunnel. He got to his feet, resisting placing weight on twisted ankle. Limping slightly, he tried to gather enough energy to start running.

That was when things got weird.

Just as he placed his leg forwards, something blew past him, shedding electricity as it did. Startled, Barry took a step back, twisting his ankle in a unnatural direction as he nearly went off the path again. He looked back and was startled to see that his friends had remained completely still. There was not inhale of breath, no blink of their eyes, and not even their lips twitched as they froze with their last words silenced on their lips.

He had gone into speedster time, a time which he saw what each interval of what happened, what normal people would only see a fraction of. It was disorienting, almost like seeing a movie clip by clip.

 _Barry_

He jumped startled, landing on his wounded ankle and nearly buckling from the pain. He held his ground and put his good arm up defensively.

"Who's there?" he demanded circling around in a tight circle. His eyes darted from side to side trying to spot the person, but could not see anything. The tunnel, however, began to fade into a startlingly white color that glowed with heat.

 _They must prevent him from succeeding._

The voice sent shivers down his spine and he felt a chill overcome his bones.

"Who?" Barry did not even know if the question he uttered was out loud or inside his head.

 _The Time-Breaker._

"Who is he?"

 _The only way for your team to leave, is for your friend to see who is unseen. A beaten path is what you must take, to save your worlds for mankind's sake._

"I don't understand," Barry demanded turning around once more, "Who are you?"

 _Seek the man that should be dead._

 _With brightest light you will succeed_

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something red. He turned but whatever he had seen was gone.

 _Together as one, time will not be undone._

For a brief moment, the specter appeared. Dressed in tattered red, and with a very familiar lightning bolt symbol in the center of his chest, The Flash...a very much older version...stood there. His face was blurred but Barry could still make out his older self's features. His lips were shrunken in, and his eyes were weary. Black blood dripped from his nose eerily mirroring the younger Barry's face.

 _Run Barry,_ the ghost whispered, its face began to turn skull like and yellow with lightning, _R_ _un_.

It stretched out a withered hand and shoved Barry back. Searing pain laced up the speedster's arm as he tumbled out of the glowing tunnel and fell through space. The only thing he remembered before blacking out was they sound of himself screaming as the heat burned him as he fell through endless space.

* * *

 _Earth 191612: Burt's BBQ and Cafe_

 _10:00_

* * *

When Tony called Peter Parker, a kid, Oliver had been assuming he was talking about a twelve year old.

Imgaine his surprise, the 'kid' was actually closer to seventeen.

The moment he entered the cafe he knew he had gotten himself into something that his sister Thea would be better suited for. Peter—or whatever his name was—seated in the furthest booth from the door. He had warm brown eyes, pale skin, and wavy brown hair that curled behind his ears, leaving them sticking out. His eyes flickered nervously across the room, and he kept tapping his foot anxiously against a backpack lying at his feet. Next to him was another boy, with a slightly stocky build and a oversize T-shirt depicting Star Wars.

"I am not good with children," Oliver growled quietly to Kara, who swatted him gently in the shoulder.

Happy Hogan, who definitely did _not_ happy, glanced at him with slight distaste. The body guard was ilk to Diggle's first encounter with Oliver, except Happy was less thrilled to look out for a vigilante with an effinity towards bows rather than a kid who took out muggers in a spider-themed onesie.

"Sssh," Kara hissed, "Behave."

The archer sighed and cast his gaze to the third person sitting in the booth. Immediately, his senses went to Defcon 2 as he identified him as the more threatening person among the three. The third person was around the same age of the two boys, but it was easy to tell he did not belong there.

The kid looked confused as he examined the I-pad that displayed the menu. He gently touched the screen, and jerked away as something popped up; dropping the I-Pad in the process. Peter's hand shot out with amazing reflexes and caught the tablet before it hit the ground. Without a word, he slipped the I-pad back into its storage bin located on the wall to the right of him and glared at the man across from him. Scowling slightly, the kid crossed his arms and scrunched down into his seat. His face had turned as red as his hair.

"Why did we have to bring him?" Peter mouthed slightly annoyed to the boy next to him.

"Dude...he thought your washing machine was a bomb. Of course we had to bring him otherwise he would've had another panic attack," the other boy whispered back.

"Peter Parker," Oliver's voice was not particularly loud but Peter still jumped and looked at him slightly startled.

"My name's Oliver Queen. May I sit?"

Without waiting for a response, he slid into the booth next to the kid who fumbled with the I-pad. The boy looked at him, and stuck his chin out defiantly, obviously seeing a chance to show defiance in the face of authority. The archer ignored him and clenched his hands into fists as they shook.

"I'm sorry..." Peter's brow furrowed, "I'm sure I haven't heard of you..."

"He's with me," Happy pulled a chair up and sat down in a position that he could see all of them. The chair creaked under his weight, "He's uh...a friend of Tony's who came into town. He's err...not really talkative."

The archer noted out of the corner of her eyes, that Peter had calmed down upon seeing a familiar face.

"Since when did Tony know a guy with arms like steel rods?" the teen muttered. He gave Oliver an up and down glance as if sizing him up, "So what do you do?"

Oliver offered him a tight smile,noting that the teen had edged closer to his backpack, "Archery Instructor."

"Um...cool..." Peter turned and looked up at Kara, his shoulders relaxing, "And you are..."

"Reporter," she smiled brilliantly, "I'm doing an article about Mr. Stark's recent scientific contribution."

The lie rolled so easily off her tongue, that Oliver nearly bought himself. Peter's eyes lit up reminding Oliver of Barry whenever he discussed something about science. But it was the unnamed boy who broke the ice. He sat there gawking at her.

"You got to be the prettiest thing on two legs, mam," he sputtered in a thick Texan accent, "Its been two years since I've seen a woman as lovely as you." Two spots of red had appeared on his cheeks as he fumbled for a non-existing hat. Oliver cast an amused sideways glance at Kara who kept smiling. He resisted snorting; only barely. "My name's Daniel Hudson miss," the boy gave up on the formal greeting and kept staring at her like she was an angel,"But you can just call me Dan if you like missus."

"And I'm Ned," the husky kid said quickly. He stared at Oliver, "Err..did you act in a movie or something with turtles?"

"No," Oliver looked at him slightly baffled, "My friend has one...and I've hate it since it took a chunk out of my finger."

Alright. He knew he was exaggerating slightly. At least Barry now knew to put a sign on the tank that read, ' _finger eater_ '.

"'Cause I'm pretty sure I did see you in a movie," Ned said dubiously.

A waitress came by, interrupting them. She politely asked if they would like anything to drink. The boys did not want anything or react too much to Oliver's order save Peter's eyebrows shot up into his mop of hair upon hearing the archer's request.

"Look kid," Happy interjected turning to look at Peter,"What was so important that Tony had to wake me up in the middle of my nap? I need my naps otherwise I get cranky."

The boy sighed, "It has to do with him."

He gestured at Dan who had turned to glare back at Oliver like he was a rival of some kind. The archer calmly regarded him, trying to keep his hand under control. Back at the tower, he still was surprised by the anger he had towards Fury. Sure the guy was a jerk, but he knew he normally wouldn't act that way. Upon leaving the building, he had removed what appeared to be a bug from his neck. He had not planned to mention it until they returned, but his hand felt as if it were shaking, even though it did not move.

That frightened him...the shaking. He never had his nerves get the best of him.

"Him has a name you know," the kid growled crossing his arms. His accent made him sound like an actor in an old Western film, but kind of explained all the formalities from earlier.

"Dan," Peter started.

"Ace."

"Dan...err...kind of free fell and landed in my apartment. He claims he's from the 1960's..."

Oliver shared an uneasy look with Kara. It was beginning. Just as Cisco said it would. The archer's hand tightened into a fist once more, and he stuffed it into his pocket. Their expression must have bespoke exactly what they were feeling for Peter asked.

"You guys okay? You look as if you seen a ghost."

The waitress returned, and set Oliver's black coffee on the table. She gave him a quick smile, one that he returned. He stared down at the cup that reflected his face back at him. Did his eyes always have those dark circles under them?

"Fine," Kara said untruthfully. She stood up and pulled out the burner phone she had been using since they arrived on the earth, "I uh..have to take this call from my editor."

She exited quickly. Oliver knew what she really planned on doing.

"I think it is time for me to make leave as well," he turned to face the two boys and stood up to his full height, "And I will be taking Dan with me."

He tried to make it sound as friendly and as calm as possible. Unfortunately, he still had not yet mastered to calm down someone who was out of their time; _literally_. He made a mental note to ask Felicity to teach him when he got back. _Dang it_.

"I'm not going anywhere with you old man," Dan growled rising to his feet. He suddenly lunched for a steak knife resting on the table and thrusted it at Oliver's exposed abdomen.

The archer went into default mode. Block, strike, restrain. Kill used to the fourth step, but it was no longer an option. They needed the boy alive, and did not need Fury to have any more distrust towards them.

Oliver's left hand collided with Dan's knife arm and with his right, he made an abrupt chopping motion directly below the pivot of the wrist. There was a dry popping sound as the hand was dislocated; the now useless knife gyrating into the table top. Dan let out a silent howl of agony, a moment before Oliver delivered one swift and powerful right hook into his face. As the boy slammed into the table, it sent the coffee sloshing over the sides of the cup. The archer twisted his dominant arm around to his back, taking care to make it hurt enough to send a message, and not enough to tear it from the socket.

"You done?" he asked calmly pressing Dan's face hard against the wood, "Try that again, and I'll be less gentle."

"You broke my fucking wrist you bastard," was the only response.

"Dislocated it," Oliver deadpanned.

He swiveled his head around half-expecting half the dinner to be video taping what was happening. Fortunately, most of the dinner was still half asleep, leaving him with only three shocked faces staring at him. Ned's mouth dropped open, and Peter more-or-less helpfully clamped it back shut.

"I thought you said he was an archery instructor," the teen glanced at Happy wide-eyed.

"Don't look at me kid. That's what Tony said he was," the bodyguard gave Oliver a suspicious one over.

The archer ignored him and looked back down at Dan who was glaring up at him, his lips puckered from his cheek getting squashed into the table, "I'm going to let you up. You make a move for that knife, and—"

"You'll take me down," the kid grumbled trying to roll his eyes, "You remind me of my commanding officer. He's a dick and so are you."

"Get used to it," Oliver released him abruptly leaving Dan gasping for breath.

"I leave for one second and you almost kill someone," Kara sighed slightly annoyed as she reappeared, "What do you think Cisco's going to say?"

"Leave him to me," the archer grumbled. He brushed himself off and craned his neck.

There was a NYPD police officer sitting in the booth across the way from them. It was hard to see what his expression was under the wide brimmed hat he wore on his head, but he was watching them; his hand placed on the taser on his belt.

"We should go," Oliver said in a low voice. He abruptly grabbed Dan's arm and hauled him to his feet. The kid whimpered slightly, and cradled his wrist in his other hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the officer stand up and approached them. He swallowed the curses he had prepared and turned to face him.

"Can I help you officer?"

"Yes," the man had lines cut into his face making him appear older than he was. He gestured at the lieutenant before addressing him, "Is this man bothering you son?"

"As a matter of fact—" Dan was cut off and made a grunt of surprise. Oliver barely was able to glimpse Kara retracting her hand from the man's shoulder, "No sir."

"The boy slipped and dislocated his wrist," Oliver responded smoothly, "I was on my way to the hospital."

The officer frowned slightly, but moved to the side as if to let them go. The archer tugged the kid gently by the shoulder, hoping that he would be able to make a clean escape. He had not gone further than placing his hand on the door handle when the officer barked out.

"Hey!"

Oliver reacted. His shoulders stiffened up, and he whirled around, half-expecting a gun to be pointed at his forehead. Instead the policeman held out Oliver's wallet and coffee cup.

"You forgot your wallet. And coffee."

The archer relaxed and with a grim smile plucked the worn out thing from the man's fingertips, " _Thanks_."

He tried to sound as calm as possible as he placed the wallet back in his pocket. Oliver quickly bolted down the steaming beverage and placed the cup on the table next to him. Somewhere off to his right, he could feel the two teenagers eyes on him expressing both amazement and pain. With a curt nod to the officer, he steered Dan towards the door and ushered him out. Kara followed in turn, giving a Happy a small smile and a faint wave before leaving.

Peter turned to look at the bodyguard, "Is it just me...or did that guy give you the creeps?"

"So-so kid," Happy looked at his watch and scowled, "Shouldn't you two be in school right—"

He cut himself off noticing that the boys had somehow made their escape unnoticed.

"Teenagers," the man grumbled, standing up and paying for the coffee, "I have to babysit a group of teenagers!"

* * *

 **Eh. I know Barry would have been better suited for meeting Peter, but I kind of wanted to have an Oliver interaction.**

 **Important note: I am considering rewriting this after watching key Marvel films. Any suggestions on how I should re-plot the story?**


End file.
